Body Structure Success Stories and Newsletter

Why Following the Blue Zones Diet Could Be Sabotaging Your Health—Especially if You're Over 40

Sat, 26 Oct 2024 20:14:45 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness and Physical Therapy

In recent years, the Blue Zones diet has gained popularity for promoting longevity based on the lifestyles of people in regions where many live past 100. While I respect the cultural insights the Blue Zones provide, particularly their emphasis on movement, community, and stress reduction, I believe there’s a fundamental issue with their dietary recommendations—particularly for those of us who want to optimize our health as we age. Let’s dive into why adopting a different approach might be a better path to vitality.

1. The Importance of High-Quality Protein as We Age One key principle of the Blue Zones diet is to limit meat consumption, often recommending eating it only a few times a month. This might have worked for people in specific environments, but the reality is, older adults require more protein to maintain muscle mass and recover from injuries. This is especially true for those who are active or undergoing rehabilitation.

Complete Proteins : Unlike plant-based proteins, which are often incomplete and harder to absorb, meat provides complete proteins —essential for muscle maintenance, tissue repair, and overall vitality. Animal-based proteins like beef, fish, and eggs offer all nine essential amino acids, in a form that your body can efficiently use.
Protein for Healing : For anyone recovering from injury, surgery, or even just trying to maintain strength, getting enough bioavailable protein from sources like meat is crucial. Restricting this can slow down recovery, particularly for older adults.

2. Why the Focus on Grains and Beans Could Be Harmful Blue Zones recommend that grains and beans make up the bulk of your diet. While these foods were staples in some traditional diets, today’s grains and legumes are far removed from their ancient counterparts—and for many people, relying on them as a primary source of nutrition can have negative health effects, particularly when it comes to metabolic health .

Grains and Insulin Resistance : Many grains, especially highly processed ones, can cause blood sugar spikes and contribute to insulin resistance —a key factor in the development of metabolic syndrome , type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases. For those who want to maintain stable energy levels and support metabolic health, reducing grains (especially refined ones) is often a better approach.
The Issue with Beans : While beans provide fiber and some plant protein, they also contain anti-nutrients like lectins and phytates , which can inhibit the absorption of important minerals like zinc and iron. For people looking to maximize their nutrient intake, especially as they age, animal-based foods are a more efficient source of these vital nutrients.

3. The Benefits of Low-Carb Shifting to a low-carb approach can have profound health benefits—especially when it comes to metabolic health, muscle preservation, and overall vitality. While the Blue Zones approach may work for some, it’s important to recognize that each person’s nutritional needs are different, particularly in modern life.

Reduced Inflammation and Improved Metabolic Health : A low-carb diet has been shown to reduce inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity , leading to better energy levels, fat loss, and even a reduction in chronic disease markers. For those who are pre-diabetic or struggling with metabolic issues, reducing grains and sugars (even the complex kind) can help reset your body’s ability to manage blood sugar.
Carnivore for Simplicity : Some people thrive on an even more restrictive approach, like the carnivore diet , which focuses exclusively on animal-based foods. This can be especially beneficial for those with autoimmune issues, digestive problems, or chronic inflammation. While it may sound extreme, the carnivore diet eliminates the anti-nutrients found in plant foods and focuses on nutrient-dense proteins and fats.

4. Listening to Your Body’s Needs While the Blue Zones diet has valuable insights, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution—especially for those who need more protein for recovery or want to avoid the risks of metabolic disease . For many, increasing high-quality animal proteins and reducing reliance on grains and legumes can lead to better health outcomes, particularly as we age.

Conclusion: The Blue Zones approach offers some interesting lifestyle tips, but when it comes to nutrition, particularly for those focused on healing, recovery, and metabolic health, there’s strong evidence that prioritizing animal-based proteins and minimizing grains and legumes may offer more benefits. The key is to focus on nutrient-dense, whole foods that support your body’s needs—especially as you get older.

Top 10 Fitness Myths You Need to Stop Believing – And What to Do Instead

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 23:22:19 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

After diving into Kelly Starrett’s The Supple Leopard, I realized just how much misinformation is out there when it comes to fitness. The book opened my eyes to the importance of functional movement, mobility, and proper mechanics—things that are often overlooked or misunderstood in mainstream fitness advice.

The truth is, bad advice can keep you stuck, lead to injury, and leave you feeling frustrated with your progress. But once you understand how your body is meant to move and what really works, everything changes. So today, I’m breaking down 10 common fitness myths that are holding you back and showing you what to do instead—based on what I’ve learned from my own experience and from experts like Starrett.

Myth #1: Lifting Weights Will Make You Bulky

Fact: Lifting weights won’t turn you into the Hulk. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to build lean muscle, burn fat, and increase your metabolic rate. Unless you’re consuming massive amounts of calories and training specifically for hypertrophy, bulking up takes way more effort than most people think—especially for women, who don’t have the testosterone levels to naturally gain large amounts of muscle. Strength training is your best friend for getting strong, mobile, and lean.

What to Do Instead: Don’t fear the weights. Incorporate compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and presses to build functional strength and improve body composition.

Myth #2: No Pain, No Gain

Fact: Pain is a sign that something’s wrong. Sure, training can be uncomfortable at times—hard work should challenge you—but pain that feels sharp or debilitating? That’s not growth, that’s damage. This mentality is a fast track to injury. Smart training is about building capacity and mechanics, not breaking your body down.

What to Do Instead: Train with intent. Focus on technique, mobility, and progressive overload. You should feel challenged but in control. Pain shouldn’t be part of the equation.

Myth #3: Crunches Will Give You Six-Pack Abs

Fact: Here’s the truth: abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. Crunches alone won’t get you shredded. Spot reduction is a myth—you can’t target fat loss in one specific area of your body. To reveal those abs, you need to lower your overall body fat percentage through a combination of strength training, cardio, and nutrition.

What to Do Instead: Prioritize full-body movements like deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and squats, which engage your core while burning more calories. Combine that with a diet that’s high in protein and balanced in carbs and fats for real results.

Myth #4: Cardio is the Best Way to Lose Weight

Fact: Cardio has its place, but it’s not the golden ticket to fat loss. The more muscle you build, the more calories your body burns—even at rest. Strength training not only builds lean muscle but also boosts your metabolism, making fat loss more efficient over the long term. Endless hours on the treadmill won’t give you the same effect.

What to Do Instead: Lift weights, prioritize compound movements, and throw in some HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) if you want to boost your cardiovascular fitness and shred fat.

Myth #5: Stretching Before a Workout Prevents Injury

Fact: Static stretching before a workout can actually inhibit your performance. It doesn't "warm up" your muscles or prime your nervous system for movement. Dynamic warm-ups, on the other hand, prep your body by moving your muscles and joints through full ranges of motion, mimicking the exercises you're about to perform.

What to Do Instead: Incorporate dynamic movements like lunges, squats, arm circles, or banded exercises to get your body ready for action. Save static stretching for after your workout to help improve flexibility.

Myth #6: Lifting Heavy Will Ruin Your Joints

Fact: Lifting heavy weights with proper form doesn’t destroy your joints—it strengthens them. When done correctly, resistance training builds the muscles around your joints, creating better stability and reducing injury risk. What actually ruins your joints is poor movement mechanics, a lack of mobility, and overuse without proper recovery.

What to Do Instead: Focus on mastering form and increasing mobility. Prioritize quality over quantity. Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments around your joints will protect them in the long run.

Myth #7: Sweating More Means You’re Burning More Calories

Fact: Sweat is not an indicator of how hard you’re working or how many calories you’re burning. Sweat is your body’s way of cooling down, and how much you sweat depends on a lot of factors, including temperature, humidity, and genetics. You can burn just as many calories in a strength training session where you barely break a sweat as you can in a high-intensity cardio workout.

What to Do Instead: Don’t chase the sweat. Chase intensity, good form, and progression. Keep track of your workouts with measurable metrics like reps, weight lifted, and time under tension to ensure you’re making progress.

Myth #8: You Shouldn’t Lift If You’re Sore

Fact: There’s a difference between being sore and being injured. Muscle soreness is a natural part of the recovery process and doesn’t necessarily mean you need to skip your workout. In fact, light movement can help alleviate soreness by increasing blood flow to the muscles. However, you should be careful to listen to your body—if you feel sharp pain or something doesn’t feel right, rest.

What to Do Instead: Incorporate active recovery, like walking, light mobility work, or even yoga, on days when you’re sore. Keep moving, but don’t push through sharp or intense pain.

Myth #9: The More Reps, the Better

Fact: More isn’t always better. Quality reps always beat out quantity. Sloppy form with high reps just sets you up for injury and won’t give you the results you’re looking for. When it comes to strength training, focus on proper technique and working through the full range of motion with control. The last thing you want is to rush through movements without giving your muscles time under tension.

What to Do Instead: Prioritize slow, controlled reps with proper form. Increase weight progressively, but never sacrifice mechanics for more reps.

Myth #10: You Need to Work Out Every Day

Fact: More isn’t always better—recovery is where the magic happens. Training every day without giving your body time to recover can lead to burnout, injury, and overtraining syndrome. Your body needs time to rebuild and repair. The key is to balance intense workouts with adequate rest and recovery to make consistent progress.

What to Do Instead: Train hard, but recover harder. Incorporate rest days, mobility work, and proper sleep into your routine. The goal is sustainable, long-term gains—not quick burnout.

The fitness world is filled with myths that keep people from reaching their true potential. It’s time to ditch the old-school thinking and focus on what really works. Smart training is about movement quality, recovery, and consistency—it's not about grinding yourself into the ground.

Ready to take your fitness to the next level? Let us guide you with a personalized training plan that builds strength, mobility, and long-term health. Book your free consultation today, and let's bust these myths together!

Low-Carb Comfort: Spaghetti Squash with Parmesan Chicken & Bacon – A Recipe to Fuel Your Health

Sat, 07 Sep 2024 21:15:47 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

Are you looking for a delicious way to improve your health and take control of your habits? This low-carb spaghetti squash recipe is not only packed with flavor but also helps you "carb correct" by choosing the right carbs that fuel performance and fight inflammation. Paired with chicken, bacon, and a rich parmesan cream sauce, this dish will satisfy your cravings while keeping your health on track.

Ingredients: (Feeds 2 people)

1 spaghetti squash
2 chicken breasts, chopped
4 strips of bacon
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp butter
Salt & pepper (to taste)
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place it skin-side up on a baking sheet. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the flesh is soft enough to shred into spaghetti-like strands.
While the squash bakes, cook the bacon in a pan until crispy. Remove and chop into pieces.
In the same pan with the bacon grease, cook the chicken until it has a golden-brown crust, then chop into bite-sized pieces.
In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in the parmesan cheese, heavy cream, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, stirring frequently until a smooth sauce forms.
Once the spaghetti squash is cooked, remove the flesh with a fork, season with salt and pepper, and place it on a plate.
Top the squash with the golden-brown chicken, then drizzle the parmesan cream sauce generously over the top. Finish with bacon crumbles, more salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy a low-carb meal that helps you "carb correct" and boosts your health one bite at a time!

Why It Works:

This dish is perfect for reducing inflammation and supporting metabolic health. Spaghetti squash provides a nutritious, lower-carb alternative to pasta, while chicken gives you lean protein to help repair muscle and keep you satisfied. The parmesan cream sauce offers a rich, comforting flavor, and with bacon on top, you get the indulgence you crave without compromising your health goals.

Share this recipe with friends and family, and let’s all work together to take control of our health. Eating right can be delicious—start with one meal, and inspire someone else to do the same!

The Real Reason You're Struggling with Workout Energy (And How to Fix It Fast!)

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 20:25:26 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

Ever feel like dragging yourself to the gym is a Herculean task? You know you should be excited to work out, but instead, you’re fighting just to muster the energy to get off the couch. And when you finally do, you’re so drained by the end of your workout that the idea of doing it all over again tomorrow seems impossible.

Sound familiar?

Here’s the thing: It’s NOT your fault. The real issue lies in understanding how your body fuels itself—and once you unlock that secret, you’ll be able to supercharge your workouts like never before.

Your body runs on two primary energy sources: fats and carbs. The way you fuel yourself daily determines which of these your body uses more efficiently—and that’s the key to crushing your workouts.

Remember the “Carb Rollercoaster”?

A little while ago, we talked about the infamous "carb rollercoaster" and how starting your day with a flood of carbs can totally derail your fitness goals. (If you missed that, go back and read it here (It’s a game-changer) : https://www.bodystructure.com/the-shocking-morning-ritual-that-melts-10-pounds-in-10-dayshint-avoid-the-famous-carb-rollercoaster

But today, we’re going to go even deeper. We’re going to unlock the secrets of your body’s energy hierarchy and show you how to use it to your advantage so you can finally crush those workouts with ease.

The Body’s Energy Hierarchy: The Truth You Need to Know

Your body doesn’t just burn any fuel that comes its way. There’s an order—a hierarchy—to how it uses energy, and understanding this can be the difference between feeling unstoppable in the gym or completely wiped out.

Here’s how your body burns fuel, in order:

Alcohol: Your body sees alcohol as a toxin, so it prioritizes burning it off ASAP. But while it’s quick, it’s not the energy source you want before a workout. Skip the pre-gym cocktail, folks.
Sugar (Carbs): Carbs are like rocket fuel for your body—fast, explosive energy that’s perfect for high-intensity workouts. Need to power through a heavy lift or intense cardio? Carbs are your go-to.
Fat: Fat is your slow-burn fuel. It’s ideal for endurance workouts, but if your body isn’t used to burning fat, you might feel sluggish at first. The more fat-adapted you are, the more you can rely on this long-lasting energy source.
Protein: Protein is your body’s building block, not its primary energy source. It’s used last, mainly for muscle repair and recovery.

How to Tailor Your Fuel for Maximum Workout Performance

Now that you know the hierarchy, let’s put it to work. Here’s how to tailor your fuel based on your specific workout goals:

For Fat Loss & Endurance: If you’re looking to torch fat and build endurance, make fat your main energy source. Eating fat before your workout provides a steady, sustained energy. And when your pre-workout fat is used up, your body will dip into its fat reserves, meaning more fat burned!

For Power & Strength: If you’re after strength and power, carbs are your best friend. Eating fast-digesting carbs 30-40 minutes before your workout will give you the explosive energy you need to lift heavier and crush your workout.

But here’s the kicker: Carbs are powerful, but they can be a double-edged sword if not used correctly.

How to Harness Carbs Without Sabotaging Your Results

To get the benefits of carbs without the drawbacks:

Time your carbs around your workout. Eat them 30 minutes before training to ensure they’re burned off during your session.
Mix fast and slow-digesting carbs. Fast carbs give you that quick boost, while slow carbs keep you fueled through the entire workout.
Stay hydrated with a carb and electrolyte drink during your workout to maintain energy levels and stay at your peak.

Knowledge Is Power—Now Go Crush It!

Armed with this knowledge, you’re now ready to fuel your body the right way and dominate your workouts. No more dragging yourself through the gym doors or feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck afterward. You’re in control now.

Got questions? Hit us up at Body Structure. We’re here to help you take your fitness game to the next level.

3 Exercises Every Runner Should Do to Boost Leg Strength and Performance

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:07:00 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

3 Exercises Every Runner Should Do to Boost Leg Strength and Performance

When it comes to running, strong legs aren’t just a nice-to-have—they’re a must. But if you’re relying on running alone to build that strength, you’re missing out on a crucial piece of the puzzle. As Dr. John Borders, our medical director at Body Structure, discovered, adding the right strength exercises to your routine can take your performance to the next level, even well into your 70s.

Dr. Borders has been a fixture in the Lexington running community for years. But like many runners, he once believed that running was the best way to keep his legs strong. It wasn’t until he started training with Kevin that he realized the true potential of strength training.

Now, at age 70, Dr. Borders continues to increase his leg strength and overall performance through a tried-and-true fitness approach that goes beyond just running.

In this blog post, we’re sharing three of the exercises that have helped Dr. Borders—and can help you—build leg strength that supports better running and a healthier life overall:

1. Clean and Press
This compound movement is excellent for building overall strength and power. The clean and press works multiple muscle groups, including your legs, core, and shoulders, making it an ideal exercise for enhancing your running performance.

2. Landmine Squat to Overhead Press
This exercise is a powerhouse for improving strength, stability, and coordination. It targets your quads, glutes, and shoulders, while also engaging your core, which is crucial for maintaining form during long runs.

3. Hexbar Squat
The hexbar squat is a fantastic way to develop leg strength with less strain on your lower back. It targets the quads, hamstrings, and glutes, providing a solid foundation for any runner looking to increase power and endurance.

Conclusion: Strength training isn’t just for bodybuilders; it’s for anyone who wants to move better, perform better, and stay healthy as they age. Dr. Borders is living proof that it’s never too late to start. Whether you’re a seasoned runner or just getting started, incorporating these exercises into your routine can make all the difference.

Want to learn more about how to optimize your fitness routine? Follow us on Instagram and check us out regularly for tips, workouts, and inspiration. Your best run yet is just around the corner!

Don’t let age slow you down—let’s build the strength you need to keep moving forward. For more expert advice and personalized training plans, visit our blog and stay tuned for more updates from Body Structure!

The Shocking Morning Ritual That Melts 10 Pounds in 10 Days—Hint: Avoid The Famous “Carb Rollercoaster”

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 20:41:34 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

The Shocking Morning Ritual That Melts 10 Pounds in 10 Days—Hint: Avoid The Famous “Carb Rollercoaster”.

When you start to feel the burn …

Every night, while you sleep, your body starts burning fat. After about eight hours, it uses up all the sugar in your blood from the day before. That’s why you feel hungry when you wake up. But sometimes, you might not feel hungry at all.

Why? Because when you wake up, there’s no more sugar in your blood, so your blood sugar is low. If you’re not used to this, it might feel strange. You might even think you’re hungry.

But here’s the truth.

What you’re feeling isn’t just hunger—it’s your body running low on electrolytes and trying to turn fat into energy. If you haven’t trained your body to burn fat well, this can feel uncomfortable at first. But over time, your body gets better at it.

Have you ever noticed that if you don’t eat right away, your hunger fades after 20-45 minutes? Suddenly, you have more energy, and you’re thinking more clearly. Your breath might even have a weird taste or smell, but it goes away once you eat.

This is your body switching from burning sugar to burning fat.

Now, let’s see what happens when you ride the “Carb Roller Coaster.”

Picture this:

You wake up and eat a sugary breakfast—like cereal, bread, or juice.

Your blood sugar spikes, and your body stores fat. (SPIKE #1)

Two hours later, you’re hungry again, so you grab a snack.

Blood sugar spikes, store fat. (SPIKE #2)

At lunch, you eat a burger, fries, and a soda.

Blood sugar spikes, store fat. (SPIKE #3)

In the afternoon, you get hungry and eat another snack.

Blood sugar spikes, store fat. (SPIKE #4)

For dinner, you have a big meal—like pasta or pizza.

Blood sugar spikes, store fat. (SPIKE #5)

Later, you eat a bedtime snack—maybe cookies or chips.

Blood sugar spikes, store fat. (SPIKE #6)

And then, at 1 a.m., you get up for a late-night snack—like ice cream.

Blood sugar spikes, store fat. (SPIKE #7)

Do you see the pattern? Every time you eat carbs, your blood sugar goes up, and your body stores fat. It’s hard to burn fat when you keep eating carbs because your body turns off its fat-burning mode.

But when you avoid carbs, your body stays in fat-burning mode. If you wait until later in the day to eat carbs, you’ll stay in fat-burning mode longer. In just two weeks, you’ll start to look better, feel better, and think more clearly—just by saving your carbs for dinner.

How to Get Off the “Carb Roller Coaster”

Track Your Carbs: Use a nutrition app like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer to see how many carbs you eat. The more carbs you eat, the more important it is to cut back.
Delay Eating Carbs: Skip breakfast or eat a high-protein, low-carb meal like eggs and bacon. The longer you avoid carbs, the longer you stay in fat-burning mode.
Exercise While Burning Fat: Do cardio in the morning to burn more fat. After you eat your carbs (at lunch or dinner), do strength training.
Limit Carbs to One Meal: If you eat carbs, have them at just one meal, preferably dinner.
Get Enough Electrolytes: Make sure you’re getting enough sodium, magnesium, and potassium. A supplement like LMNT can help.

Conclusion: Take Control of Your Day—And Your Health

The “Carb Roller Coaster” is a ride that leaves you feeling tired, hungry, and stuck in a cycle of storing fat. But by making a few simple changes, you can break free. Start your day with protein instead of carbs, delay your carb intake until later, and give your body the chance to stay in fat-burning mode longer.

With just a little effort, you’ll soon notice the benefits—more energy, clearer thinking, and a leaner body. It’s time to stop the ups and downs and take control of your health, one meal at a time.

Experience the Future of Wellness with Sunlighten's 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 20:54:25 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

Experience the Future of Wellness with Sunlighten's 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna

Introduction

In the world of wellness and recovery, infrared saunas have become a revolutionary tool. Unlike traditional saunas that just heat the air, infrared saunas penetrate the skin, offering a range of health benefits. At Body Structure, we're excited to introduce the 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna by Sunlighten. This cutting-edge technology combines three spectrums of infrared light to supercharge your wellness journey.

What Makes Sunlighten’s 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna Unique?

Triple Spectrum Technology

Most infrared saunas use a single spectrum of light. Sunlighten’s 3-in-1 technology integrates mid, far, and near infrared rays, each delivering unique benefits:

Near Infrared (NIR): Boosts skin rejuvenation and cell health.
Mid Infrared (MIR): Enhances circulation and supports muscle recovery.
Far Infrared (FIR): Penetrates deeply for thorough detoxification.

Deep Detoxification

Unlike traditional saunas that heat the air to high temperatures, Sunlighten’s 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna operates at a comfortable 150 degrees. This lower heat allows for longer sessions, enabling a deeper detox at the cellular level. The infrared rays raise your core temperature by three degrees, promoting white blood cell production and efficient toxin elimination.

Health Benefits of Infrared Sauna Therapy

Boosts Immune System

Regular sessions in an infrared sauna can strengthen your immune system. The increased core temperature mimics a fever, stimulating the immune response and boosting white blood cell count.

Enhances Muscle Recovery

Athletes and fitness enthusiasts benefit greatly from infrared sauna therapy. The mid-infrared rays penetrate deeply into muscles, increasing blood flow and speeding up recovery. This helps reduce soreness and enhance performance.

Supports Skin Health

The near-infrared rays in Sunlighten’s sauna stimulate collagen production, promoting skin rejuvenation. Regular use can lead to clearer, healthier, and more youthful-looking skin.

Promotes Relaxation and Stress Relief

The gentle heat of the infrared sauna relaxes muscles and soothes aches and pains. Sitting in a warm, quiet environment can also reduce stress levels, improve mood, and enhance overall mental well-being.

Why Choose Sunlighten’s 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna at Body Structure?

At Body Structure, we're dedicated to providing top-notch wellness solutions. Our Sunlighten 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna is more than just a luxury—it's a scientifically backed method to boost your health and well-being.

Proven Results

After just two weeks of using our infrared sauna thrice a week, many clients report significant energy levels, detoxification, and overall well-being improvements. When combined with proper hydration and electrolyte replenishment, the benefits are even more pronounced.

Expert Guidance

Our wellness experts are here to guide you through your infrared sauna experience. We’ll help you maximize the benefits and seamlessly integrate sessions into your wellness routine.

Conclusion

Infrared sauna therapy is a powerful tool for enhancing health and well-being. Sunlighten’s 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna at Body Structure offers unparalleled benefits with its unique triple-spectrum technology. Whether you're looking to detoxify, recover from workouts, improve your skin, or simply relax, our infrared sauna is the perfect solution.

Ready to transform your wellness routine? Book your session today at Body Structure and start your journey to better health!

Book Now

Understanding and Addressing Upper Crossed Syndrome: Body Structure's Ultimate Solution

Sun, 28 Jul 2024 18:35:38 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

Understanding and Addressing Upper Crossed Syndrome: Body Structure's Ultimate Solution

In our tech-dominated world, we are constantly hunched over a computer or steering wheel, looking down at our phones, or just plain sitting in the terrible shape of a question mark, wondering why are necks and shoulders hurt.

When it comes to neck and shoulder pain, it can almost always be traced back to 2 things: Injury or improper alignment in your everyday activities. Luckily by focusing on your posture and alignment you can eliminate these nagging pains and get back to living a happy, pain-free life.

When you’re picking something off of the ground, are you thinking about your form? When you are doing your bench press, are thinking about what your back is doing while you press? When you’re endlessly scrolling on social media, are you thinking about all the spinal vertebrae that you’re setting in a permanent forward position? Have you ever thought to yourself, “Am I choosing to look like Quasimodo?” Well, my friend, if you have never had any of these types of questions cross your mind then there is a high probability that you are on your way to upper crossed syndrome.

What is Upper Crossed Syndrome?

Upper Crossed Syndrome is a postural dysfunction characterized by a specific pattern of muscle tightness and weakness. This imbalance typically results from prolonged poor posture, particularly forward head positioning and rounded shoulders. Understanding the characteristics of UCS is the first step in addressing and correcting it.

Characteristics of Upper Crossed Syndrome

Muscle Imbalances:

UCS involves tightness in the chest (pectoralis major and minor) and the upper back and neck muscles (upper trapezius, levator scapulae, and suboccipital). Conversely, there is weakness in the deep cervical flexors (front of the neck), lower trapezius, serratus anterior, and rhomboids (scapular stabilizers).

Postural Changes:

These imbalances lead to forward head posture, rounded shoulders, increased curvature in the upper back (thoracic kyphosis), and scapular winging.

Common Symptoms:

Individuals with UCS often experience neck pain and stiffness, headaches, shoulder pain, restricted range of motion, and upper back tightness.

How Body Structure Can Help

At Body Structure, we specialize in identifying and addressing the root causes of Upper Crossed Syndrome. Our holistic approach combines expert knowledge with personalized care to ensure you achieve lasting results.

Comprehensive Assessment:

Our expert trainers conduct a thorough assessment to identify the specific muscle imbalances and postural deviations causing your UCS. This personalized evaluation allows us to create a tailored treatment plan just for you.

Targeted Stretching and Strengthening:

Our programs include specific stretches for the chest, upper trapezius, levator scapulae, and suboccipitals to relieve tightness. We also focus on strengthening weak muscles such as the deep cervical flexors, lower trapezius, serratus anterior, and rhomboids through customized exercises.

Postural Education and Ergonomics:

We educate you on maintaining proper posture throughout your daily activities and provide ergonomic advice to optimize your workstation setup. This ensures that you continue to practice good posture even outside of our sessions.

Manual Therapy and Advanced Techniques:

Body Structure offers chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, and physical therapy techniques to realign your spine, relieve muscle tension, and enhance your recovery process.

Ongoing Support and Functional Training:

We believe in continuous improvement. Our trainers incorporate functional exercises, such as yoga and Pilates, to promote proper alignment and balance. Regular check-ins and adjustments to your program ensure that you stay on track and achieve your health goals.

Why Choose Body Structure?

Choosing Body Structure means investing in a healthier, pain-free future. Our dedicated team of professionals is committed to providing the highest quality care and personalized solutions to address your specific needs. We combine expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, and a supportive community to help you overcome Upper Crossed Syndrome and lead a more active, comfortable life.

Prevention is Key

Preventing UCS involves regular physical activity, strength training, flexibility exercises, and maintaining postural awareness. At Body Structure, we empower you with the knowledge and tools to prevent postural imbalances from recurring.

Conclusion

Upper Crossed Syndrome is a prevalent issue in our modern, sedentary lifestyle. However, with the right knowledge and proactive approach, it can be effectively managed and prevented. At Body Structure, we're committed to helping you achieve optimal health and wellness. If you suspect you have UCS or want to learn more about maintaining good posture, schedule a consultation with one of our expert trainers today. Together, we can work towards a healthier, pain-free life.

Transform your posture and well-being with Body Structure. Whether you're experiencing symptoms of Upper Crossed Syndrome or simply want to improve your posture, our team is here to provide personalized, expert care. Schedule your consultation today and take the first step towards a healthier, more active life!

Discover the Life-Changing Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Body Structure Medical Fitness Facility

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:17:46 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

Discover the Life-Changing Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Body Structure

Introduction

Are you seeking a safe, effective way to enhance your body's natural healing processes? At Body Structure, we offer Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) as a revolutionary treatment designed to promote recovery and improve overall health. Whether you're dealing with chronic conditions, or injuries, or just looking to boost your well-being, HBOT could be the solution you've been searching for.

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy involves placing a person in an inflatable chamber where the air pressure is increased up to three times higher than normal. This higher pressure allows your lungs to take in significantly more oxygen than usual. This oxygen-rich blood then circulates throughout your body, aiding in the repair of damaged tissues, stimulating the release of growth factors and stem cells, and enhancing your body's ability to fight infections.

At Bodystructure, we use mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chambers that utilize filtered ambient air, making the treatment safe and free from the risk of oxygen toxicity. Each session lasts 45-60 minutes, and our healthcare team closely monitors each session to ensure your safety and comfort.

Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

HBOT offers a wide range of health benefits, including:

Enhanced Healing: Increases oxygen delivery to injured tissues, speeding up recovery.
Reduced Inflammation: Helps to decrease swelling and inflammation in the body.
Improved Brain Function: Assists in the recovery from brain injuries and conditions like autism, Alzheimer's, and dementia.
Sports Recovery: Aids in the healing of sports-related injuries and promotes bone regeneration.
Support for Chronic Conditions: Beneficial for conditions like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, allergies, and long COVID.

How Does HBOT Work?

When you enter the hyperbaric chamber, the increased air pressure will create a temporary feeling of fullness in your ears, similar to what you might experience in an airplane. This sensation can be easily relieved by yawning or swallowing. During the session, your body absorbs more oxygen, which enhances your body's natural healing processes.

A typical course of treatment involves multiple sessions. Some conditions, like carbon monoxide poisoning, can be treated in as few as three visits. However, chronic conditions and non-healing wounds may require 25-30 treatments to achieve optimal results. Each session costs $45, and we offer a package of 10 sessions for $350.

Why Choose Bodystructure for HBOT?

The Body Structure staff are committed to helping you unlock your full health potential. Our experienced team ensures every session is tailored to your unique needs, combining HBOT with other therapies if necessary to deliver the best results.

Success Stories

Our clients rave about their results! From chronic pain relief to accelerated injury recovery, the transformative power of HBOT at Body Structure speaks for itself. Athletes, chronic pain sufferers, and wellness seekers alike have experienced life-changing benefits.

Ready to transform your health? Schedule your first Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy session at Body Structure today. Visit our website www.bodystructure.com or call us at 859-268-8190. Let's start your journey to optimal health now!

Unlock Your Full Potential: Proven Injury Recovery Strategies to Reclaim Your Mobility

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 21:18:05 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness, Physical Therapy, and Personal Training

Unlock Your Full Potential: Proven Injury Recovery Strategies to Reclaim Your Mobility

Hey there! Struggling with injury recovery can be one of the toughest challenges, but guess what? You're not alone, and the journey to reclaiming your mobility and living your best life is within reach! At Bodystructure, we’re dedicated to providing you with the expert guidance and proven strategies you need. Whether it’s a torn rotator cuff, chronic pain, or a recent injury, we’ve got your back. Dive into this post to discover how you can start feeling better and moving freely again!

Understanding the Impact of Injury on Mobility

Injuries don’t just hurt your body; they can affect your entire life—making even the simplest tasks daunting. Often, fear and intimidation hold us back from seeking the help we need. But here's the truth: with the right approach, recovery is not just possible; it’s within your grasp. Let's tackle these concerns head-on and get you back on track!

Proven Strategies for Injury Recovery

1. Physical Therapy: Your Foundation for Recovery

Physical therapy isn’t just about exercises—it’s your personalized roadmap to regaining strength and function. We tailor each plan to fit your unique needs, ensuring you get the best results.

Case Study Example: Meet John, a 66-year-old who dodged shoulder surgery thanks to our physical therapy program. “With the exercises, personal training, and physical therapy, I've regained my balance, muscle strength, and tone. I'm stronger at 66 than ever before!”

2. At-Home Exercises: Simple Steps to Big Results

Don’t underestimate the power of consistency! Incorporate these simple, expert-guided exercises into your daily routine to speed up your recovery.

3. Hydrotherapy: Harness the Healing Power of Water

Water is your secret weapon! Hydrotherapy makes movement easier, reduces pain, and boosts strength—especially if you have joint issues or severe pain.

4. Nutrition and Hydration: Fuel Your Recovery

What you eat and drink can make or break your recovery. A balanced diet reduces inflammation and speeds up healing.

5. Mind-Body Techniques: Holistic Healing

Your mind is just as important as your body. Techniques like meditation, deep breathing, and yoga can lower stress and boost your mental health, supporting physical recovery.

Success Story: Sarah shares, “My mind, body, and spirit have changed so much for the better since joining Body Structure. The welcoming and nonjudgmental environment has been a game-changer.”

Success Stories: Real Results from Real People

Testimonial: "After a car accident, Bodystructure’s physical therapy and massage therapy were lifesavers. The personalized care and expert staff not only helped me recover but also got me into the best shape of my life. Now, even six months pregnant, I’ve never felt better!” - Emily

Conclusion

Reclaiming your mobility after an injury isn’t just a dream—it’s a reality with the right strategies and support. At Body Structure, we’re committed to helping you achieve your health and fitness goals. Don’t let fear or intimidation stop you. Start your recovery journey today and experience the transformation!

Ready to take the next step? Sign up for a free physical therapy consultation and exam with one of our expert physical therapists. Plus, join the conversation on our social media—tell us what you think about our blog and services. We're here to support you every step of the way!

Hydration: The Key to Battling Headaches and More

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 18:48:11 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness Facility for Personal Training and Physical Therapy

Do you often find yourself suffering from headaches, dizziness, or fatigue? You might be surprised to learn that the solution to these common ailments could be as simple as improving your hydration levels. For the past seven years, I've managed to cure 100% of my headaches by addressing my hydration, and today, I'm sharing some key tips to help you do the same.

Understanding the Importance of Hydration

Proper hydration is vital for maintaining overall health and wellness. Our bodies are made up of about 60% water, and this fluid is essential for numerous bodily functions, including regulating temperature, maintaining joint health, and transporting nutrients. When we're not properly hydrated, our bodies can't function optimally, leading to various symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.

Key Electrolytes and Their Role

While drinking water is a crucial part of staying hydrated, it's also essential to maintain a balance of electrolytes in your body. Electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium play a significant role in retaining fluids and ensuring that our bodily systems operate efficiently.

Sodium

Symptoms of Deficiency: Fatigue, weakness, headaches, difficulty concentrating.
Course of Action: Be more liberal with the salt shaker at mealtimes, and if needed, have 1-2 cups of broth daily.

Potassium

Symptoms of Deficiency: Muscle cramps, muscle twitching, heart palpitations.
Course of Action: Eat an extra avocado, or include more leafy greens and mushrooms in your diet.

Magnesium

Symptoms of Deficiency: Muscle cramping or twitching at night or after exercise.
Course of Action: Incorporate seeds like hemp, pumpkin, and chia, or enjoy a portion of mackerel, almonds, or leafy greens daily.

Tips for Staying Hydrated

Increase Your Water Intake Aim to drink at least 8-10 glasses of water a day. Carry a water bottle with you and take regular sips throughout the day.
Balance Your Electrolytes Incorporate electrolyte-rich foods into your diet to ensure you're maintaining the right balance. This includes foods like avocados, spinach, nuts, and seeds.
Limit Caffeine Consumption While caffeine can give you a quick energy boost, it also acts as a diuretic, which can lead to dehydration. Try to balance your caffeine intake with an equal amount of water.
Pay Attention to Your Body Signs of dehydration include dry mouth, dark urine, and fatigue. If you're experiencing these symptoms, it's time to increase your fluid intake.
Pre-Hydrate Before Exercise If you're engaging in physical activity, particularly endurance exercises, pre-hydrate with a half teaspoon of salt in water about 30 minutes before your workout to improve performance and prevent dehydration.

Conclusion

Hydration is a simple yet powerful tool for maintaining your health. By paying attention to your water intake and ensuring you're consuming enough electrolytes, you can alleviate many common symptoms and improve your overall well-being.

At Body Structure, we're committed to helping you achieve your health and fitness goals. If you have any questions or need personalized advice on staying hydrated, our expert trainers are here to help. Feel better, live better, and stay hydrated!

Give us a call and we will get you started on the path to a healthier, happier you!!

5 Steps to Easily Improve Your Squat, Balance, and Posture

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 21:50:58 GMT

Bodystructure Medical Fitness Facility

5 Steps to Easily Improve Your Squat, Balance, and Posture

As we age, maintaining good movement mechanics becomes increasingly important. A well-executed squat is a fundamental exercise that enhances strength, balance, and overall posture. Here’s how you can optimize your squat technique with five simple steps, specially designed for those over 40.

1. Torque Your Feet into the Ground

Creating a solid foundation starts with your feet. Imagine you’re trying to screw your feet into the ground without actually moving them. This action, known as "torqueing," helps to activate the muscles of your hips and legs, providing stability and power.

Tip: Perform this torqueing motion before you even begin to squat. It sets the stage for the rest of the movement.

2. Engage Your Core and Glutes

A stable core and strong glutes are crucial for maintaining proper form and protecting your spine. Before you descend, brace your core as if preparing to take a punch, and squeeze your glutes to engage them fully. This dual activation provides a strong pillar of support.

Tip: Think of this step as creating a "cylinder of stability" around your midsection. A solid core ensures that your spine stays in a safe, neutral position throughout the squat.

3. Shoulders Back and Down

Good posture isn’t just for standing up straight; it’s also essential during your squat. Retract your shoulder blades and keep them down to open up your chest. This helps to avoid rounding your upper back, which can lead to poor form and potential injury.

Tip: Imagine pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades. This mental cue can help you maintain proper shoulder positioning.

4. Drive Your Hips Back

Think of squatting as sitting back in an invisible chair. Driving your hips back as you begin your descent engages your posterior chain—the muscles along your backside, including your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. This movement also ensures that your knees don’t travel too far forward, which can strain your joints.

Tip: Practice this hip-hinge movement without any weight to get the feel for it. Mastering this motion will significantly improve your squat mechanics.

5. Knees Forward and Out

As you lower into the squat, your knees should track forward and slightly out, aligning with your toes. This helps prevent the knees from collapsing inward, leading to knee pain and instability.

Tip: Imagine pushing the floor apart with your feet as you descend. This cue encourages proper knee tracking and engages the muscles of your hips and thighs more effectively.

Implementing These Steps

Incorporating these steps into your squat routine will enhance your strength, balance, and posture, reducing the risk of injury and improving overall movement quality. Remember, consistency is key. Regular practice will engrain these mechanics into your muscle memory, making them second nature.

Final Thought

Perfecting your squat form is a journey. Start with these foundational steps and gradually build upon them. For personalized guidance and expert advice, see one of our trainers at Bodystructure. We’re here to help you move better, feel better, and live better.

5 Benefits of Medically Supervised Fitness Programs

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 21:12:15 GMT

Body Structure Medical Fitness Facility

When it comes to reaching your fitness goals, the right guidance is crucial. At Body Structure Medical Fitness, we believe that medically supervised fitness programs offer unmatched benefits. Here are five key reasons to choose a medically supervised fitness program to improve your health and well-being.

1. Personalized Fitness Plans

Medically supervised fitness programs provide a high level of personalization. Unlike generic workout plans, our programs are tailored to your specific needs, health conditions, and fitness goals. Whether you’re recovering from an injury, managing a chronic condition, or looking to improve your overall fitness, our expert team will create a plan just for you.

Why it matters: Personalized plans ensure that you’re working out safely and effectively. This helps reduce the risk of injury and improves your progress. This custom approach helps you reach your goals faster and more efficiently.

2. Expert Supervision and Guidance

Our medically supervised fitness programs are led by highly trained professionals, including certified trainers and medical experts. This means you’re not just following a routine; you’re getting expert guidance at every step.

Why it matters: Having professional supervision ensures you’re doing exercises correctly and safely. You also get immediate adjustments and advice, which can keep you motivated and help prevent injuries.

3. Comprehensive Health Monitoring

At Body Structure, your health is our top priority. Our programs include regular health assessments to track your progress and make necessary adjustments. This might include monitoring blood pressure, body composition, and fitness levels.

Why it matters: Regular health monitoring helps you stay on track and adjust your program as needed. It also provides peace of mind, knowing that any potential health issues can be identified and addressed quickly.

4. Enhanced Motivation and Accountability

Staying motivated can be tough, but with a medically supervised program, you’re never alone. Our team provides ongoing support and encouragement, helping you stay accountable to your fitness goals.

Why it matters: Accountability is key to long-term success. Knowing you have a dedicated team supporting you can make a huge difference in staying committed to your fitness journey.

5. Holistic Approach to Health and Fitness

Our programs don’t just focus on exercise; we take a holistic approach to your health and fitness. This includes nutritional guidance, stress management techniques, and lifestyle changes to support your overall well-being.

Why it matters: A holistic approach ensures that all aspects of your health are addressed. This comprehensive care leads to better overall health and a higher quality of life.

Ready to transform your health and fitness journey? Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and discover how our medically supervised fitness programs can benefit you. Let’s take the first step towards a healthier, happier you!

Spine Manipulation

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 11:37:07 GMT

Are you someone with neck and/or back pain?

Spine manipulation, or ‘adjustments,’ is a manual therapy technique that utilizes a high velocity, low amplitude thrust that results in the classic ‘popping’ or ‘cracking’ sound and feeling that is associated with this technique. It can be performed on most joints in the body, but most commonly used in the spine to treat neck and low back pain.

These techniques have frequent misconceptions about them. The primary benefits of manipulation are improved mobility and a decrease in pain in the area. Obviously, these benefits are positive, but they’re short lived, typically lasting about 24-48 hours.

What spine manipulation does NOT do is realign your joints or move your bones. Luckily, humans are far more resilient than that and our joints don’t “go out” that easily. The popping you hear and feel following a manipulation is nothing more than gas bubbles in the joints bursting, resulting in the audible ‘pop’ and some relief in pressure.

Manipulation also does not address other pathologies. Illnesses, weakened immune systems, congenital disorders, neurological or internal organ function are not affected by manipulation. Ultimately, this technique feels good for a couple days and then wears off.

Another big question is ‘Is this safe?’ As is the case with so many things, the answer is based on the individual. For most people, yes, it is a safe and effective treatment technique. But there are times when it is contraindicated. Conditions that result in poor or decreasing bone density, neurological/vascular disorders, and a history of trauma, may mean that this technique is risky and should not be performed. Luckily, your provider will assess your medical history and evaluate you in order to determine whether or not you are a candidate for this technique.

The final, and most important, question is ‘Can this help me?’ If your provider determines it is safe and appropriate for you, then yes! But, as mentioned previously, the benefits are temporary. While it can be helpful, it should never be the sole treatment technique used and should not be the focus of treatment. Ultimately, actual long-term improvement is made through proper strengthening, mobility, and a better understanding of why you hurt and how you can get better.

If you think spinal manipulation can help you, or if you have questions, call Body Structure Medical Fitness for an evaluation, and start moving towards a pain free life today!

- Dr. Nicholas Boland

Psychosocial Aspects of Pain Cycle

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 10:43:36 GMT

Therapy and the Psychosocial Aspects of a Pain Cycle

For centuries, traditional Western medicine has historically understood pain through largely anatomical models. This line of reasoning is simple enough to understand: if you are experiencing pain, it is because some tissue or structure in your body is either damaged or otherwise dysfunctional. Under this model, the appropriate way to address pain would be to repair, rehabilitate, or otherwise attend to the dysfunctional tissue. Failing that, drugs may be prescribed to alleviate symptoms causing pain (e.g., inflammation) or to alleviate pain itself (e.g., analgesics, opioids).

Physical therapists laboring under this model understood that the presence of pain could initiate a vicious feedback loop. In this cycle, a person is further and further debilitated by fear, anxiety, and subsequent fear-avoidant behaviors that result in weakness and further pain and dysfunction.

While still frequently beneficial to patients, this treatment paradigm was incomplete. Today, ever-increasing bodies of scientific literature support the biopsychosocial model of pain. We now know that while pain is indeed often linked to tissue damage, it is also highly influenced by both internal and external factors such as a patient’s attitudes, beliefs about pain, emotional state, and sources of stress. An example: imagine that you stub your toe while enjoying brunch with your closest friends during a sunny weekend morning. Now imagine that you stub your toe with same amount of force, but while returning home after a long, stressful workday as you fumble with your keys on your pitch-black patio. In both scenarios, the same small amount of tissue damage has occurred, but one scenario is likely to be much more painful.

Written by Dr. Matt Cha

Powerlifting Success Story

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:30:54 GMT

With Dr. Matt Cha, Aaron was able to go back to doing what he loves!

Aaron is a powerlifter who began experiencing chronic and debilitating back and leg pain. His neurologist told him that he "needed to stop thinking of himself as someone with a healthy spine," and that he needed to stop training with weights. He had given up on ever getting stronger and was beginning to accept that the rest of his life would just be avoidance of pain.

Fortunately, Aaron made his way to the physical therapists at Body Structure, where he learned that the human body is far more resilient than he previously realized. As part of a team, Aaron slowly and intelligently reintroduced old movements and learned more about the physiology of pain. Today, he has returned to work, and is now training with weights again regularly, and is getting stronger every day.

He told us, "I never thought I'd ever be able to get under a barbell again. Gosh, it feels so good."

If you or a loved one has been dealing with chronic pain that has stopped you from doing the things you love, don't wait a second longer! Come see the physical therapy team here at Body Structure Medical Fitness, where we can help get you to where you want to be.

Dr. Matt Cha

Do You Experience Headaches?

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:14:13 GMT

Are you one of the millions of people in America impacted by headaches frequently?

Are you someone who has been diagnosed with migraines but feel like your current treatment is not helping?

Headaches are a common complaint throughout the world and are frequently not well understood or treated. There are many kinds of headaches, and while some can be relieved through more simple means, such as increasing water intake and getting better sleep, others require more focused treatments.

Many people suffer with what is known as ‘Cervicogenic headaches.’ This is just a medical term for headaches that are originating in your upper neck, or ‘cervical spine.’ The causes can vary from weakness in the muscles of the neck, keeping your head in certain postures for too long, or just general stiffness. These headaches can also frequently be misdiagnosed as migraines, and while the symptoms can be similar if a cervical headache is severe, the treatment will be different.

People who suffer from cervicogenic headaches are typically people who are maintaining certain head positions for too long. Lawyers, students, receptionists, etc., anyone who works long hours at a desk and looks down at books or computers are more at risk of developing cervicogenic headaches. With that being said, anyone can suffer from them, so if you think this may apply to you regardless of profession don’t hesitate to seek care!

The Physical Therapists at Body Structure can evaluate and assess your symptoms to determine the cause of your headaches. Once that is determined, they can use various treatments to help relieve your pain and symptoms and get you back to living your best life. These treatments can include manual therapy, spinal manipulation therapy, dry needling, and exercise to improve function and strength in your neck and treat the root cause of the problem. Stop living in pain, come to Body Structure and begin living your best life.

Information brought by Dr. Nicholas Boland

How Massage Helps Your Body and Mind

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 20:35:59 GMT

Yet another reason for you to prioritize YOU and schedule a massage.

Do you deal with aches and pains on a daily basis?

Or do you struggle with chronic stress?

I’m here to share with you how massage can be very beneficial for managing these issues. Taking a look at our parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems is a great place to start in explaining how massage has been proven to support stress management. Massage therapy can benefit someone by taking them out of “fight or flight” mode and into a more calm and relaxed “rest and digest” mode. Flipping that switch can be easier said than done, and massage has proven to be an effective method to make it happen. This relief benefits not only stress levels but pain management as well. Dealing with chronic or acute pain can be hard but with massage therapy, we can work together to promote happy and healthy muscles that were once tight and negatively affecting you on a daily basis.

Please contact and schedule with Licensed Massage Therapist, Halle Balcirak to work together and manage your stress and pain.

3 Spectrum Sauna- 3 Major Health Benefits

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:27:03 GMT

Sweat, unwind, and feel the health benefits!

Have you tried Body Structures 3 Spectrum Infrared Sauna yet ?

Beyond the numerous physical health benefits that I’ll touch on here; it’s worth noting the wonderful calming and unwinding properties that many people experience when making the point to prioritize their health with a sauna session.

How it works:

To first provide an idea of how an Infrared sauna works- the heating method of the infrared sauna is through emitting infrared light/ radiation with near, far, and mid wavelengths. Those 3 spectrum wavelengths of light directly penetrate the skin and heat up your body essentially from the inside out without significantly heating up the air. The idea here is that your core body temperature is heated without the air around you having to reach as extreme of a temperature as you might see in a traditional sauna. This could be compared to getting warmed up from the sun (without any UV radiation that generally goes along with it).

Let’s talk health benefits:

Hormesis is one of those great benefits. This is the process of stress or strain promoting strength and or resilience. A sauna is the most efficient way of challenging our immune systems to promote overall wellness and defend against illness. Another way to think about this would be to consider a sauna to be similar to your body’s fever reaction. This is a call to action for white blood cells, and other antiviral lymphocytes, neutrophils, and interferons [3].

Lowered risk for heart disease and lowered blood pressure are additional benefits. As your body warms and you begin to sweat, your blood vessels widen, and you will also have increased blood flow and heart rate. This would be comparable to walking at a moderate pace [1].

Mental Health is one additional benefit is that studies have shown that infrared light saunas in particular have mental health benefits as well as reduced depression and reduced risk of developing psychotic disorders. Consistent sauna use has shown improved sleep, lowered stress levels, and general improved mental well-being. [2]

At Body Structure, we are always trying to emphasize the importance of not only moving well but prioritizing our eating and recovery as instrumental aspects of our health. The 3 Spectrum Sauna offers an incredible opportunity for you to take some time to focus on your health and promote effective recovery. If you're new to the sauna Body Structure would love to offer you one trial session to see if it feels right for you!

1. Beever R. Far-infrared saunas for treatment of cardiovascular risk factors: summary of published evidence. Can Fam Physician. 2009 Jul;55(7):691-6. PMID: 19602651; PMCID: PMC2718593.

2. Joy N. Hussain, Ronda F. Greaves, Marc M. Cohen, A hot topic for health: Results of the Global Sauna Survey, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, Volume 44, 2019, Pages 223-234, ISSN 0965-2299, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2019.03.012.

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229919300998)

3. Rhonda P. Patrick, Teresa L. Johnson, Sauna use as a lifestyle practice to extend healthspan, Experimental Gerontology, Volume 154, 2021, 111509, ISSN 0531-5565, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2021.111509.

Physical Therapist Lexington KY

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMT

PHYSICAL THERAPIST

Body Structure of Lexington is expanding Seeking a full and part-time physical therapists to their team at the Gribbin Drive and Greenbrier location. Body Structure offers a comprehensive team approach with one-on-one patient care booking. Enjoy all the perks of being part of a small business but in hyper growth. Our facility and staffing provides us a multitude of options to help patients live a healthier life. We provide a positive learning environment, with flexible hours, competitive compensation, benefits, and potential ownership opportunities.

Come take a tour and learn why we have been changing lives for over 25 years!

Qualified applicants send resume to kevin@bodystructure.com or call 859-268-8190 for in person interview.

The Overwhelming Benefits of Pilates

Thu, 21 Oct 2021 16:17:29 GMT

Post Written by: Rebecca Kelly

What is Pilates?

Pilates has a multitude of benefits which are valuable to everyone and everybody. Improve mobility with range of motion movements, increase flexibility with assisted stretching, strengthen your muscle from top to bottom with an emphasis on building a strong foundation from which to move, and gain more stability by stimulating the neuromuscular system. Pilates utilizes over 600 exercises and variations using specialized equipment exercises on the reformer. The Pilates reformer is a popular pulley system perfect for beginners, intermediate, or advanced fitness levels. Exercises can be progressed or regressed based on an individual’s needs at the time. The whole-body exercise method was specifically designed to improve functioning of daily activities and overall livelihood by combining movement and breath work engaging smaller and deeper stabilizing muscles of the body. For those seeking weight loss, Pilates has the potential to alter body shape through toning with emphasis on body alignment and improvement of posture. This exercise regime is also extremely beneficial for pregnant women, alleviating pressure from the body by targeting the glutes, core, & pelvic floor. A common misconception people often have is that core strength is the primary goal of Pilates. Although there is a large emphasis on core, employing that core strength to gain functional and sustainable movement patterns throughout the body is the end goal. Practicing Pilates with consistency will allow you to move with more vigor and freedom while experiencing less pain.

What are some of the more specific benefits ?

Managing Shoulder Pain

Mon, 26 Jul 2021 17:18:19 GMT

Managing Shoulder Pain

I had been experiencing pain in my right shoulder which had been limiting my normal daily activities. Marie and I were able to identify where my trouble as in my shoulder and through a series of appointments we were able to progress to a point where my shoulder feels much better! I am grateful to be feeling like I can get back to my normal routine!

-Bill B.

Running Again After a Hip Injury

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 18:29:27 GMT

Running Again After a Hip Injury

Thank you, Patrick

Running is my “go to”exercise. It is an important stress reliever for me. I had a hip injury and was unable to run because of the pain. Yikes!!!

After trying new running shoes, new orthotics and resting my hip, I was not getting any better. I decided to try Physical Therapy with Patrick Veitch. Through Physical therapy with Patrick and perosnal training with Adam Coleman I was able to strengthen my muscles. I am now back to running-my “happy place” Thank you so much !!!!

-Cheri H. 7/21/2021

Healing a Shoulder after a Car Accident

Thu, 13 May 2021 18:43:05 GMT

Success Story: Shoulder Pain Solution

My experience with Body Structure has been amazing. When I first came here I was very limited in daily activities like brushing my hair, getting dressed, carrying groceries, and more. I have been here before a few years ago after a car accident with a neck injury and had great success and complete healing. I knew where I needed to come for physical therapy when I started having trouble with my shoulder. I was in pain and little mobility. After x-rays, my doctor told me I would need physical therapy so I asked if I could choose where to go, and when they said yes, I asked if I could go to Body Structure. This is the only place I will come for PT and live an hour away! Highly recommend them!

-Angela C.

Success with TMR and Dry Needling : Loosening and Strengthening Muscles

Thu, 13 May 2021 17:58:59 GMT

Success Story: TMR and Dry Needle Success

My name is Wick Preston and I have been working with Marie the PT. She helps me stretch and push myself every week using the TMR methods. She researched dry needling and mentioned it to my mom. They both decided it would be worth trying to loosen and strengthen my muscles. After the first time, it was immediately successful. Thanks Ms. Marie the PT!!!

-Wick Preston 6/18/2020

Help with Balance and Muscle Strengthening

Thu, 13 May 2021 17:53:25 GMT

Success Story: Getting Strong and Working on Balance

I had a significant loss of muscle strength after a few years of being a caregiver. During my physical therapy sessions, Patrick Veitch gave his undivided attention to the execution of my exercises. This standard of care is what separates Body Structure outcomes from all others. Patrick continuously asked me where I was feeling the exercise and would make adjustments to make sure that the correct muscles were targeted. I worked much harder knowing that he was actively engaged in my progress. My exercises increased in difficulty and new ones were added often. I was also aware that Patrick always ensured my safety, especially during the balance work. This personalized, one on one supervision made my therapy fun and a complete success! I want thank Kevin Balcirak for allowing this high quality of care to happen for your clients.

Susan Jones 6/4/2020

American Heart Month is Here!

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT

When you think of February you think of love and hearts but what you may not know is that is it also American Heart Month. While you are out there spreading love to other people, remember to spread love to yourself by taking care of your heart. Here are some ways you can show your heart some love this month.

Cardio is not always the answer:
People often assume that cardio is the best way to lose and maintain weight along with keeping your heart in tip top shape. While cardio is a great way to keep your heart healthy, there are more efficient ways to solidify your foundation in both cardiovascular health and improving strength. The type of training I am referring to is resistance training. Resistance training not only helps with strength, but it also increases your metabolic rate which in turn helps burn more calories while resting.

Core Foundations of Fitness:
Nutrition is part of what I like to call the “3-Legged Stool of Fitness”. This stool consists of EAT-MOVE-RECOVER. When you take one of the legs away from the stool then the stool no longer stands, failing to do its job. To put this metaphor into the topic of fitness, if you are exercising and getting good rest, but your diet is failing to provide the nutrients you need, then your stool may also be failing because you are taking away a core foundation. The three components of fitness work best when done together. When choosing a diet, choose one where you eat nutrient dense foods from each food group. By adding these types of diets, you will improve your vitamin and mineral intake and decrease the amount of sodium and fats you consume; this can lead to helping lose and manage your weight along with managing cholesterol and blood pressure. Having a sound diet that is dense in nutrients and has a variety of foods from the food groups, will decrease the risk of any cardiovascular diseases and in turn make a healthier you!

Recommended Diet for Heart Health:
The Mediterranean diet consists of a variety of foods from each food group. This diet limits the consumption of red meat and focuses on fruits, vegetables, and consuming proteins such as fish and beans. This is a great diet for a healthy heart and also offers many more health benefits. If you have been trying to switch to a more plant-based diet, this is also a great diet to help you transition into a plant-based diet. Strictly plant-based diets are also very beneficial for maintaining a healthy heart. But, if you find yourself not able to scratch out all meats, the Mediterranean is a great alternative. Remember to pick a diet that will be easy for you to stick to and enjoy while also meeting your nutritional needs.

Helpful Links to Get You Started:

Nutrition Tips
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/aha-diet-and-lifestyle-recommendations

Mediterranean Diet Overview
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801

Resistance Training Tips and Exercises
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/strength-and-resistance-training-exercise

https://www.hituni.com/exercise/ultimate-science-based-resistance-training-routine-senior-citizens/#.YCrtSS2ZO8U

Blood Sugar Levels "Why You Feel The Way You Do"

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 21:37:15 GMT

Mid afternoon energy crash got you down?

If you find yourself reaching for coffee, sweets, or snack foods in the afternoon to perk up your energy levels, then you may have an imbalance in your blood sugar rhythm!

Other signs this may be occurring:

You get irritable, shaky or ‘hangry’ (hunger + anger) if you have to wait too long to eat
You often wake in the middle of the night (usually between 1-3am)
You get sleepy after meals
You’ve tried many ways to lose weight, but can’t
Uncontrollable cravings
Brain fog/lack of mental clarity often
Must snack between meals

If any of the above applies to you, then you likely have a dysregulation in your blood sugar rhythm. The great news is, there are steps you can begin to take today to begin bringing it back into balance. But first, it is important to understand how our blood sugar regulation system works! When we maintain a healthy lifestyle & nutrition our blood sugar will rise and fall within the green zone in the graphic below. This would represent a normal rhythm.

Depicted below is a dysregulated blood sugar rhythm:

This can occur for a variety of reasons, but in short, our blood sugar spikes when we have an influx of glucose (sugar) in our blood stream. At any one time, the average person should only have about a teaspoon of glucose in their bloodstream. The rest is brought to the muscles or liver by insulin to be stored. When there is excess to what those can hold, it is converted to fat for storage. Because the spike is considered an emergency state for the body, it must work hard & fast to try to regulate it. It is very capable of this when occurring occasionally. However, when it occurs many times a day, the system may become dysregulated. Often in the rush to bring levels down, it overshoots, which leads to a significant drop in blood sugar level, which will trigger cravings in order to bring the levels back up again. You may begin to see how this can be a vicious cycle!

Something very important to note! Insulin is released to manage blood sugar - and when insulin is present, the body is unable to burn fat for fuel. Which means spiking blood sugar levels consistently throughout the day, will make it almost impossible to burn any fat.

What to do about it?

If this is already occurring, you need to break the cycle! The more we feed our body sugary foods and simple carbohydrates that lead to the spike, the further we drive our bodies into dysregulation. While everyone is going to have slightly different needs, a good general guideline is to have 3 satisfying meals + 1 snack. If you’re a grazer, or find yourself having many small snacks a day, just start by choosing ONE meal to really sit down to and have it be a full meal with a balance of fats, proteins & complex carbohydrates.

Another great change is to replace carbohydrate snacks with ones that are more protein or fat based. So, when you start to feel like you need to eat, rather than reaching for crackers, chips or sweets, try something like:

celery & hummus or guac
apple with nut butter
eggs
beef jerky
handful of nut-based trail mix

Providing the body with complex carbs, proteins & fats rather than simple carbohydrates will prevent a spike in the first place, without leaving you feeling awful & starving!

There are many additional complexities & nuances to this system, so if you are wanting to discuss how this may be occurring in your body, please don’t hesitate to reach out for further guidance!

It’s Such a Pain in the…Back

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 18:12:30 GMT

Have you ever experienced back pain?

With more than a quarter of all adults having experienced back pain within the past three months and about 80% experiencing back pain at some point during their lifetime the answer is probably YES! Unfortunately this means back pain is nearly a universal human experience. But don’t worry, there is hope!

So what can you do about it?

In order to combat back pain, we must first have a basic understanding of the function of the low back. The low back’s primary purpose is to provide stability. It is meant to resist motion, not create it. I’m sure you’ve all hear “lift with your legs…NOT with your back”. But what does this really mean. When we move, we are meant to spare the low back by moving from the hips and the upper back, NOT the low back. More often than not, we get it backwards, and end up moving more from our low back while our hips and upper back tighten up. The end result is…you guessed it…low back pain!

Digging a little deeper we find…

The muscles of the low back are usually overactive/overworked because of poor movement. This poor movement results from a lack of help from the supporting cast (glutes, hamstrings, abs, etc.), poor breathing mechanics, shifts or rotations in the spine or hips, lack of hip/upper back mobility, or any combination of the above.

So how do I find out if my back pain is caused by me not moving right?

At Body Structure our physical therapists will perform a thorough evaluation to help determine the root cause of your issues and provided actionable solutions for alleviating your back pain. They will also help outline a long-term plan to get you moving better and help keep your back as healthy and pain-free as possible.

What else?

Knowing what NOT to do is just as important as knowing what to do in the struggle with back pain. Exercises that create bending and/or twisting at the low back should rarely find their way into your exercise programs, especially if you already have back pain. This means common core exercises often believed to be helpful like crunches, sit-ups, and loaded twisting movements should be abandoned for more appropriate exercises.

If those aren’t good, then what back exercises are appropriate?

Assuming serious, underlying conditions (such as disc degeneration, herniated discs, stenosis, etc.) are ruled out, there is a plethora of exercises available to improve the strengthen and endurance of the muscles of your low back and keep pain at bay. Because the primary function of your low back is to provide stability and resist motion, the exercises chosen should put you in a position to do just that…stabilize. At the same time, working on the mobility of the hips and the upper back will help put movement back where it is supposed to be.

Below are a few suggested exercises to get the ball rolling to a more pain-free place.

Exercise 1 – Pelvic pain

Single Knee Isometic

How to do it:

Lying on your back, grab your knee with both hands
Keep your other leg straight.
Push your knee down into your hands.

Hold 5 seconds, 10 times

DO NOT hug your knee to your chest!

Exercise 2 – Sciatica pain

Prop up on Stomach

How to do it:

Lying on your stomach, hands in push-up position
Keep hips and pelvis on floor, press upper body, head, and chest up

Hold for 5 seconds, repeat 10 times

Initially, the goal may be to alleviate the pain, but in the end, the probable result will not only be less pain, but better overall movement. When each joint is properly playing its part and all your joints are working together, you are both more pain free and more capable. We have assisted thousands over the past twenty years to hurt less and move better. We would be glad to guide you too!

2019 New Year’s Resolution Guide

Mon, 31 Dec 2018 21:35:57 GMT

New Year’s is another holiday of celebration. Whether it’s celebrating surviving another year, a job promotion, or a new beginning, it is always exciting planning for a new year filled with new dreams of improving one’s life. It is a time accompanied by new goals and fresh starts. It is a time to recommit your health and well-being.

Identifying resolutions is easy: get more sleep, eat better, and exercise more.

The most difficult part is sticking to those longer than through the end of January. I have some suggestions to help you make and keep your health resolutions this New Year. My #1 tip: do not try to take on to much at one time. This is a lifetime project!

1. Mindful Eating

It is easy to go through a sleeve of cookies while binge watching Breaking Bad. It takes your brain about 15 minutes to realize that the body is full. So when you are distracted and eating, it leads to overeating. Practice mindful eating. Eat at a table, eat slower, and put down your utensils between bites. When you slow down and become mindful, it is easier to feel when you are comfortable. Think about your activity level each day as it relates to how much you have taken in when picking up that night time snack.

2. Sleep in the cold

Studies show you get better quality sleep when the temperature is 68 degrees or lower. Darkening the room with curtains and turning down lights on the electronics can help too. A great habit to work on for several reasons other than sleep is to limit phone use, tablets, computers, or TV usage at least 1 hour prior to bed. Also, keeping the same sleeping routine will lead to better quality of sleep.

3. Gratitude

Adopting an attitude of gratitude can help you reflect on your blessings. By journaling or reflecting on what you are grateful each day, it takes the focus off of your stressors and onto something positive.

4. Walk for 30 Minutes a Day

Moderate intensity walking or weight training for 30 minutes a day can help meet the recommendation of daily activity. Don’t have a 30-minute block of time in your day? Take 3, ten-minute walks then. Maybe you take the stairs instead of the elevator, or park a little further away in the parking lot. Even walking with a friend or talking on the phone can help pass the time. Moderate physical activity has been proven to reduce the risk of the top 4 chronic diseases in America.

5. Commit to a 30-Day challenge

This is where you can make a pledge to exercise or do some type of activity every day for 30 days. Maybe it’s walking daily, practicing yoga, or lifting weights. Either way, you are setting the tone for the New Year. Getting in a routine early on can help you stay consistent and hold yourself accountable. For some of you, maybe this means you finally pull the trigger and buy yourself a membership to Body Structure, or maybe you finally hire a trainer or join our group classes.

We look forward to helping you anyway we can in 2019.

Ultimate Guide for Eating Well This Thanksgiving

Fri, 16 Nov 2018 17:54:29 GMT

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. For some, it’s a road trip home, or maybe you host it yourself. Either way, you’ll be faced with endless buttery biscuits, warm pumpkin pie, and creamy mashed potatoes. Whether you are already on your weight loss journey, or you have just started, we don’t want you to lose progress over the holidays. Here’s my guide to eating right this Thanksgiving – no stretchy pants needed.

Portion control!

You’ve heard it before, but what does it mean? Portion is how much you choose to eat, but a serving is how much of what foods you should eat. The amount of lean meat you consume should be around the size of a deck of cards. Your starch like potatoes, or pasta, should equal the size of half a baseball. The amount of cheese should be comparable to a domino. Butter you put on your dinner roll should equal the size of a dice.

Another tip when it comes to portion control involves the plate you choose to eat on. It is easy to pick an oversized plate to layer on all the turkey and fixings, but it also means that you are eating more than you need. A smaller plate still gives you the illusion that you filled your plate up, but you won’t be overeating. The trick here is to stick to one small plate.

Timing

I know what you are thinking, that sounds cheesy, but it is quite simple to be aware when at the dinner table! Start with slow eating. It can take your brain up to 20 minutes to recognize that it is satisfied. Before going back up for seconds, take some time to let your body digest what you just put in there. Listen to your body. Eat until you feel content. Stop before you feel bloated or stuffed. There will always be leftovers if you find yourself hungry after a while.

Drink of Choice

Whether you drink water, a nice glass of wine, or a cold brew for dinner, it is important to know how that affects your eating habits. Stay hydrated no matter what. Our body can confuse dehydration for hunger. If you drink water throughout the day, you can help fight this problem. Water is calorie free and will keep you feeling full!

If you do plan on consuming alcohol, make sure you know your limits and do not exceed those. Alcoholic drinks usually contain high calories or sugars. Not to mention, drinking adult beverages can reduce your resistance to overindulging in both food and alcohol.

Choose a light beer. Michelob Ultra contains 95 calories and only 2.2 carbs. If you are more of a wine person, swap your usual red for a crisp white. Although whites don’t have the health benefits of red wines, they are usually less in calories. If neither are for you, try a hard seltzer such as White Claw or Truly.

Being Engaged

No I don’t mean the bling, I am talking about being engaged with your family and friends. Sometimes Thanksgiving is one of the few times a year you get to catch up with everybody. Enjoy the time together. Not only is it a distraction from what is in the buffet, but also Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate together. And pro tip, if you are talking, that means your aren’t eating. ;) Another way to be engaged might mean being active! Start a tradition of playing flag football or a game together. It is a good way to get moving and burn calories.

Food Alternatives

If the whole family is dieting and down for eating healthier, you can switch up your dishes to be more carb and calorie friendly. Cut the traditional mashed potatoes and try making mashed cauliflower. Not only do you cut tons of fat and calories, but it is also a way to get veggies in. Still not your thing? Try using Greek yogurt in your mashed potatoes instead of cream. Green bean casserole is typically a staple at the dinner table, but combining processed canned soups with fried onions, isn’t diet friendly. Instead, make fresh green beans. Sautee them on the stove with garlic and olive oil. Fresh is best and they are still packed with flavor.

Whether you try one, or all of these tips this Thanksgiving, making any of these changes will sure keep you on track with being a bit more mindful about what you are eating.

ARE YOU A DIET YO-YO’ER

Tue, 06 Nov 2018 20:23:31 GMT

By: Dr. Lee W. Ricketts II

A recent study of over 6.7 million people shows that this may not be a good idea—especially where your heart health is concerned. This study showed that people whose weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar fluctuated significantly had a much higher risk of heart attack, stroke and premature death” than do those who have “more steady readings.” Specifically, the researchers found that after “nearly six years of follow-up,” both men and women who had the greatest fluctuation in these readings “were 127 percent more likely to die, 43 percent more likely to have a heart attack and 41 percent more likely to have a stroke,” compared to those with stable readings. The researchers focused on those “whose readings went up or down more than 5 percent.” The results were adjusted “for age, gender, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and income.” The participants had “no history of heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol at the start of the study.”

Thus, it is important to seek to maintain a stable weight – which is one of the contributors to high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar.

Here at Body Structure, we strive to help you maintain these healthy habits and thus reduce your risk of premature death, heart disease or stroke. Won’t you join us today on this journey?

Hepatitis A in Kentucky, what is the big deal?

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 16:16:37 GMT

As you may have heard, there is a severe outbreak of Hepatitis A in Kentucky. Thus, I think it is time to educate ourselves about this illness and how to prevent it.

What is Hepatitis A?

Hepatitis A is an extremely contagious liver infection that is caused by the Hepatitis A virus. The infection ranges from mild illness that lasts a few weeks, to a severe illness which can last for several months—or even result in liver failure or death.

How can someone get Hepatitis A?

Hepatitis A is found within the stool (otherwise known as feces) of people who already have the Hepatitis A Virus (HAV). The virus enters the body through the mouth after someone has touched something that is contaminated with infected stool. For example, someone with Hepatitis A can use the restroom, not wash their hands properly, serve food to someone and contaminate the consumer of the food that was served.

What are symptoms for Hepatitis A?

Fatigue, Abdominal pain, Nausea, Appetite, Fever, Jaundice (yellowing of the eyes), Darker colored urine

Who’s at Risk for the Infection?

Anyone is at risk for the infection that is not immune to the hepatitis A infection. Typically, the illness is related to food. Those who are especially at risk include:

People living in the same household as someone who is infected
Intimate partners of an infected person
People traveling to and from countries where Hepatitis A is common (typically 3rd World Countries with poor sanitation)
Men who engage in sexual activity, with other men
People who use drugs that are infected with Hepatitis A
Children that attend day care
Those who indulge in under cooked or raw selfish

How can you prevent Hepatitis A infection?

Vaccination

The vaccine is readily available in the United States and is highly effective and safe.

Natural Immunity in the body

Those who have had the infection, become immune and can no longer become re-infected.

Health hygiene/sanitation

Good hand washing with soap and water especially after taking a bathroom break, changing the diaper of a child, before and after serving a dish of food.

At Body Structure we value your health and well-being. Leave a comment on any other subjects you would like to learn about from our comprehensive team. If you would like more information on Hepatitis A or have a question for Dr. Ricketts, please feel free to ask.

What Do You Think About The Flu Shot?

Mon, 08 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Have you already been vaccinated? Are you against it? Do you plan on getting it this flu season? Here is what you need to know about this 2018-19 flu season.

Influenza or the “flu” season starts as early as October and can last into late spring. Flu is not something to mess with. It can be a serious illness leading to hospitalization or even death. Everyone is as risk for contracting the flu, especially those with already weakened immune systems, chronic illnesses, elderly, babies or infants, and pregnant women. Even if you don’t fall into one of those categories, getting vaccinated can help protect those around you by a process called herd immunity.

Herd immunity refers to when a large portion of a population is immunized and provides protection to those who have not been immunized. The idea is that if a lot of people are vaccinated against a virus or bacteria that the virus has a hard time reaching those few who are not vaccinated.

Although body aches are the most identifying symptom, flu symptoms can be any combination of the following: fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headaches, and tiredness or fatigue. Other symptoms include nausea and vomiting, but are more common in children than adults. Symptoms can develop after two days of exposure to the virus.

The CDC suggests that you get the vaccine as soon as the virus starts spreading in your community, or as soon as it becomes available for administration. It takes almost 14 days after receiving the vaccination in order for the antibodies to begin to protect against the virus (CDC, 2018).

This years flu vaccines have been updated and developed to protect against three viruses that will be most common this flu season. Two types of vaccinations will be available: the live nasal spray and the traditional flu shot. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about which one is right for you. This year’s flu vaccine is recommended for babies 6 months and older compared to last year’s 3-year-old requirement.

To dismiss any myths about eggs and the flu vaccine, the CDC reminds everyone that if you only experienced hives in reaction to an egg exposure, you are approved to get the vaccine. If your reactions were any more severe, you must get the vaccine administered in a medical setting with a provider who can monitor for any type of reaction that would be a result of the vaccine.

It is true that you can get the flu even having the flu vaccine, but it is not from the vaccination itself. It is possible you could be exposed to the virus before vaccination causing illness before the antibodies can begin to protect you. You may also be exposed to a strain of flu that the vaccine has not been designed to protect against. Although there is always a risk of contracting the flu after vaccination, the benefits of getting vaccinated outweigh the risks. If you do get the flu after being vaccinated, the symptoms are usually much milder than if you hadn’t had the vaccine.

The vaccine is considered safe. There are minimal side effects resulting from the injection such as redness at injection site, soreness, and swelling.

People often confuse a common cold with the flu. The biggest difference between the two is that flu symptoms are abrupt while cold symptoms gradually appear. If you feel any combination of the symptoms above, you probably have the flu. Most flu cases are mild and do not require medical attention or antiviral drugs. If you do feel as if you have it, please stay home and keep out of contact with others. Urgent care clinics and doctors’ offices can perform a lab test to confirm a positive flu case. If a person contracts the flu and is considered a high-risk patient, hospitalization may be needed so medical providers can monitor the patient.

Many people question Tamiflu. Here’s the thing, it only lessens the flu virus by one day in patients who start taking Tamiflu within 48 hours of contracting it. Tamiflu is usually covered by insurance, but the copay may be too much to justify paying for the prescription just to cut down the flu only one day.

The average flu case can lasts anywhere from one to two weeks, with the most severe symptoms last two to three days. Recovery will stretch from a few days to two weeks. Remember to drink plenty of fluids and get some rest.

Hopefully, you are more educated about this year’s flu season. If I have convinced you to get vaccinated this season, you may go to your primary care doctor, local pharmacy, health department, clinic, or college health center. Most insurance plans cover the flu vaccine for little to no cost to the patient.

Although the flu vaccination is the primary preventative measure in protecting against the flu, additional measures can be taken to help reduce spread and contraction of the flu. Stay away from sick people. If you have to be around them, limit contact and wear a protective facemask if available. Cover your mouth and nose if you cough or sneeze, preferably with a tissue. Wash your hands with soap and water. Disinfect any commonly used surfaces such as counters, door handles, phones, and any other objects. Also, spread the word! Help educate those around us on the seriousness of the flu virus and how herd immunity works to help protect others.

Join our Social Media Campaign! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

@bodystructureky on Instagram and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MyBodyStructure/

Post a picture of you getting your flu shot with #bodystructure and #flushot. Show your friends and your family that you got your flu shot and act as their reminder to get theirs. Tell us why you decided to vaccinate and why they should too!

For more information on the flu vaccine and this year’s flu season, visit the CDC’s website at https://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm .

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Influenza (flu). Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm

Gotta Move to Keep Moving

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 20:47:05 GMT

About 2,400 years ago, a popular fellow named Aristotle once said, “Life requires movement.” For over two millennium, we’ve known that our bodies need to move to stay healthy; yet most of us nowadays have no idea how good our bodies are designed to feel. Our joints ache on cold days. We get up from chairs making all sorts of funny noises. The idea of climbing those basement stairs with a basket of laundry can almost bring a tear to our eyes. The culprits behind these aches and pains can be any combination of osteoarthritis, inactivity, aging, injuries, repetitive movements, and poor posture.

Putting our bodies in motion doesn’t have to be such a burden if we consider the thoughts of Mr. Aristotle. We are designed to move, and our joints, surrounding connective tissues, and muscles are at the front line of movement. So how do we preserve or renew our joint health?

Exercise

It may seem counterintuitive, but I promise moving more will help you hurt less. In fact, moving less greatly contributes to muscles getting weaker, which in turn leads to more joint issues and snowballs into all sorts of postural and alignment issues down the road. Exercise helps maintain and restore health, joints included.

I recommend resistance training as part of any well rounded exercise routine. Resistance training is contracting muscle groups in order to move against an external force, aka moving weights around. Over time, your body will adapt to the strain resistance training puts on the bones, muscles, and connective tissue by making them all stronger. The key is improving the integrity of the tissue around a joint. Generally speaking, the stronger the muscles surrounding a joint, the better off the joint will be.

Strengthening your muscles can contribute to better posture, but we must also consider the available range of motion at a joint. Weak muscles on one side of a joint allows tight muscles on the other side to pull a joint out of alignment, so strengthening our muscles only solves part of the problem. The solution to the rest of the problem is to deactivate these overactive, tight muscles to allow the joints to move more freely.

Unfortunately, the solution of stretching the tight muscles and strengthening the weak ones isn’t as simple as we would like it to be. Since our joints all work together and rely on each other, we can’t just focus on one joint to solve the problem of poor posture. As an example, our ankles’ ability to move can affect how well our shoulders function. A movement screen by a physical therapist or qualified personal trainer can help us better aim at the target through a much clearer lens. The movement screen can determine where the imbalances are, how our bodies have adapted to the imbalances, and provide a better, more individualized solution.

Learning to move better and then doing it often will diminish the nagging aches and pains many of us have developed over the years. Remember that we must move to keep moving.

Get Back on the Bandwagon!

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 17:14:46 GMT

The new year is now half way over. Six months have passed since many of us decided to exercise and eat better to improve our health this New Year. How’s it going for you?

If you’re one of the many that have found keeping these resolutions more difficult than you thought, don’t feel bad. It happens, but just because you fell off the bandwagon doesn’t mean that you can’t get back on. Getting the ball rolling again doesn’t have to be hard if you follow these simple rules:

DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP | Try not to accept one defeat as total defeat. Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. Move on and embrace the new beginning.

SET A CLEAR STRATEGY | Arriving at a destination is difficult if you don’t know where you’re going when you start. Set long-term goals to strive for, but remember, patience and persistence is required.

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS | Set smaller attainable goals that lead you in the right direction. Regularly achieving small goals keeps you on track and cumulatively leads to big change.

DON’T DO TOO MUCH TOO SOON | Be realistic and start where you are. If you try to pick up where you left off after an extended amount of time, you may take the air out of your sails before you even begin.

ELIMINATE OBSTACLES | Obstacles equal excuses. Don’t have enough time? Three hours is just 2.5% of your waking week. Don’t want to spend too much money? Six feet of space and a body weight routine are all you need. Most obstacles have solutions, but first you must choose to put yourself first.

FIND ACCOUNTABILITY | Recruit a workout wingman; or, for even more accountability, find a qualified fitness professional to motivate and guide you. Either way, set an appointment and don’t miss it. Skipping just one workout increases your chance of missing the next one by 61%.

CELEBRATE SUCCESS | Reward yourself for a job well done. You reached a goal you set for yourself; as long as the reward doesn’t undo the success, go for it and enjoy. You earned it!

THE KETTLEBELL SWING

Fri, 25 May 2018 00:00:00 GMT

If you sit, hunched over your desk for hours on end, more than likely, your back side from shoulders to ankles (posterior chain) is feeling a bit neglected. How are you ever going to get that strong posterior chain with a solid core and powerful hips? There’s more than one answer to that question, but we’ll focus on the kettlebell swing.

So what is a kettlebell swing? First, let’s check out the equipment. A kettlebell is simply a cannon ball with a handle. To swing the kettlebell, take that handled cannon ball, bend at the hips, hike the cannon ball between your legs, quickly stand up, and swing the cannon ball forward. It’s not quite as easy as it sounds.

Before attempting a kettlebell swing, you must understand that the movement comes from bending at the hips (hip hinge) while keeping the spine straight (neutral). A hip hinge involves maximal hip bend and minimal knee bend. The kettlebell swing should not be performed until you are able to demonstrate a good hip hinge movement. When you bend over to put your hands on the handle of the kettlebell, your spine should be straight, not shaped like a question mark. Keep in mind, the hip hinge (and the kettlebell swing) involves bending at the hips more than the knees. There are a variety of ways to learn to hinge correctly while keeping a neutral spine. I suggest finding a fitness professional to help with efficiency and to stay injury free.

Once the hip hinge movement is correct, comfortable, and natural, you’re ready to attempt a kettlebell swing. The steps for the swing are:

Set the kettlebell on the floor between your feet and about a foot length in front.
Grab the handle with a neutral spine. Without swinging the bell, load the exercise by creating tension through your back, hips, and hamstrings.
Initiated the swing by hiking the kettlebell between your legs like it were a football.
Quickly extend your hips and finish in an upright standing position. Clench your cheeks (not the ones on your face) hard enough to crack walnuts. The kettlebell swing is supposed to be a quick and explosive movement.
The momentum of standing up quickly and extending your hips will cause the kettlebell to swing up. Do not let the bell swing higher than your chest because it will lead to unnecessary (and potentially dangerous) hyperextension of the spine at the low back.
Try to keep your forearms attached to your inner thighs. When they swing off your thighs, quickly get them back. The swing’s momentum is a result of your hip hinge and extension and not your arms/shoulders lifting.
As you’re reattaching your forearms to your inner thighs, you’re also bending over at the hips (remember neutral spine) and returning to the post hike position.
Allow the unassisted momentum to swing the kettlebell back to the starting position a foot length in front and set the kettlebell down.

You have now just performed one kettlebell swing repetition. The video link below first shows just one rep and then several reps strung together.

https://youtu.be/oGaSEajKdAo

There are many advantages to adding the kettlebell swing to your exercise program. The swing is a full body exercise, so muscles from your calves to your hands must work together to perform the exercise correctly. Many muscles working together makes the kettlebell swing ideal for metabolic conditioning, but since it is such a quick explosive movement, the swing is also good for strengthening.

Be sure to practice. A proper kettlebell swing can’t be learned quickly. Be patient, and keep practicing and improving.

WHEN TO CHANGE YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE

Fri, 16 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” While I’m not questioning your sanity, I am suggesting that perhaps mixing up your exercise routines and trying something new on occasion can broaden your horizons, improve your results, and avert boredom.

Let me first begin by saying; don’t jump from exercise routine to exercise routine to “keep your body guessing” or to create “muscle confusion”. These concepts are a myth. The truth is, nearly every half decent workout routine will be somewhat effective as long as you provide the time and consistency needed for it to work. If you keep changing things, that just can’t happen.

Does that mean you shouldn’t ever change your workout routine? Absolutely not. Just don’t change only for the sake of changing. First ask yourself; what are the reasons for making changes?

Reasons for Change

After careful consideration, I present you with four solid reasons to change your exercise routine.

Your program is no longer producing results . Assuming you’ve provided enough time for the program to produce results in the first place, this may seem obvious. Nevertheless, it is a very good reason for change. Again, I’m not questioning your sanity, but consider Albert’s definition. If you want different results, you’ll have to do something different.
You’ve adjusted your goals . You previously wanted to be able to pick up heavy things, but now, like Forrest Gump, you want to run for days. Time to change your exercise program.
You’re bored out of your mind. In order to stay motivated and consistent (both vital for getting results), you should enjoy what you’re doing. If you find yourself counting ceiling tiles rather than exercising, it is time to change your exercise routine.
Unforeseen circumstances make change necessary. Heaven forbid, you find yourself with a medical issue that requires an adjusted exercise program. On a more positive note, you’ve been promoted, but now you can only dedicate 30 minutes a day to exercise instead of ninety. A modification to your old exercise routine is needed.

Simply put, sometimes change is just what is needed.

CANCER PREVENTION

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

WHY WOULD YOU NOT PREVENT CANCER IF YOU COULD?

CANCER PREVENTION

If you could prevent cancer by getting a vaccine would you do it?

According to data from the CDC, about 39,000 HPV-associated cancers occur in the US each year. HPV-associated cancers include cancers of the cervix, penis, anus, vagina, rectum and oropharynx. Despite there being vaccines that are near 100 percent effective in preventing these cancers (and genital warts), the vaccination rates are still very low in the US. This really makes no sense. If there was a vaccine against lung cancer, colon cancer or other more “publicized” cancers, wouldn’t you get it?

Current recommendations for the HPV vaccine are as follows: The vaccination schedule can begin as early as age 9, or as late as age 26 for women or age 21 for men. If you are between the ages of 9 and 14, you should get two doses of the 9-valent vaccine six months apart. If you are 15 or older, you still get the traditional 3 dose series over a 6 month period.

If you want additional information, feel free to contact us or visit www.cdc.gov/hpv .

DASH DIET

Wed, 21 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

HOW DO I LOWER MY BLOOD PRESSURE?

DASH Diet

If you read my last blog, you realized there is about a 50% chance you have high blood pressure. If you are African American it is close to 55%, and if you are over the age of 65, there is a 75% chance you have hypertension—that is, a blood pressure greater than 130/80.

So, what to do? One big emphasis is on Lifestyle Modification—reduction in sodium, increasing potassium, increasing exercise, reducing alcohol and following the DASH diet.

What is the DASH diet? DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. This diet is a lifelong approach to healthy eating that's designed to help treat or prevent high blood pressure. The DASH diet encourages you to reduce the sodium in your diet and eat a variety of foods rich in nutrients that help lower blood pressure, such as potassium, calcium and magnesium.

Typically, the average American eats around 3400 grams of sodium a day. The DASH diet reduces that level to about 2300 or 1500 depending upon which diet is right for you and your health conditions.

Is this effective? A recent study from the National Institutes of Health showed that the lower sodium DASH diet could lower your systolic blood pressure up to 20.8 points—and those results were achieved in just 4 weeks on the diet. To put this into context, most blood pressure medications can reduce your systolic blood pressure an average of 12 to 16 points. So, depending upon your starting blood pressure, age and other factors, you might need at least two medications to achieve the same results as following the low-sodium DASH diet.

If you would like more information on the DASH diet, please contact us. We have two registered dietitians on staff that can readily assist you with more information.

HYPERTENSION

Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

DO YOU KNOW THE NEW BLOOD PRESSURE GUIDELINES?

You should know that about 50% of Americans are classified as hypertensive. High blood pressure can lead to diseases such as Heart Attacks, Strokes, Aneurysms, Heart Failure, Kidney Disease or Failure, Eye Problems, and issues with memory or cognition just to name a few.

Recently the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association changed the definition of high blood pressure. Previously, it was 140/90, but now it is 130/80. In addition, a new category of “elevated blood pressure” was created—it’s those people with a systolic (top number) of 120 to 129 with a normal diastolic (bottom number -- less than 80).

Along with the changes in the definition of high blood pressure, there was also an increased emphasis on Lifestyle Modification—principally thru 6 goals: weight loss, reducing sodium, increasing potassium, following the DASH diet, 90 to 150 minutes per week or physical activity, and reduction in alcohol consumption.

Here at Body Structure we can help you with those goals. Please contact us if you would like more information or a complimentary blood pressure screening.

BODY STRUCTURE 6 WEEK STARTER PLAN

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Consult your physician before starting any exercise program. If you experience any pain performing an exercise, stop immediately and consult a trainer.

It might be a cliché, but there’s nothing wrong with finally deciding to get in shape at the start of the New Year. There are, however, two primary problems to address if you aim to avoid becoming one of the much-maligned “January Joiners” who never see their gym after February:

Thousands of results greet an online search for “fitness program for beginners”, many of which seem to have a completely different idea of “beginner” than what you had in mind.
You’ve heard one too many times that new workout programs are doomed to fail, and that you’ll peter out after a few weeks when you don’t see the results you want.

Well, we here at Body Structure will have none of that!

The program developed for a college kid to look good on spring break doesn’t really fit the 53-year-old with bad knees who just wants to stay off cholesterol medication. Perhaps even more discouraging is looking at exercise programs aimed at “older adults”: getting up and down from chairs and gingerly hoisting a 3 pound dumbbell a few times. The vast majority of people fit somewhere in between, and this where the Body Structure 6 Week Starter Plan comes in.

This program is for the beginner new to exercise, or for anyone who wants to get back to the basics. Its purpose is to improve one’s general fitness in three key areas: strength, body composition, and joint mobility. That being said, it is not a “lose 30 lbs fast” or “build Titanic triceps” type of program. Think of it more of a “kickstarter”: whatever you want to do after you’re finished (lose more weight, get bigger arms, run a marathon, or what have you) you’ll be in a much better position to do it thanks to the foundation of fitness you will have built. It’s also great for anyone who simply wants to be able to get on the ground and play with their kids or clear those boxes out of the attic without getting winded or hurt.

The Body Structure 6 Week Starter Plan is designed with 2 gym workouts per week in mind, ideally at least two days apart (Monday/Thursday, Tuesday/Friday, etc.) Each workout, start to finish, should take no more than 45 minutes.

Below are all of the exercises used in the program. They have been selected because they are easy on the joints while also being flexible enough to be as challenging as they need to be. The warm-up is quick and simple while also increasing the blood flow to and flexibility of every joint in the body, cranky or otherwise. The resistance training will build muscle and strength without breaking down joints or spending weeks perfecting technique before its safe to touch a weight. The cardio is straightforward and effective. On top of everything, there is a clear system of progression, so that you can definitively look back on six weeks of progress and realize how far you’ve come.

Click the exercise name for a video demonstration

Warmup

Resistance Training

-BenchSquat

-DumbbellRow

-OneArm Dumbbell Bench Press

-BirdDogs

-SuitcaseCarry

-Pushup

-Hinge/RomanianDeadlift

-OneArm Cable Row

-SupportedSplit Squat

-BandPallof Press

Cardiovascular Training

-Treadmill uphill walking

-Bike or Elliptical

Here is a printable pdf file of the workouts:

Click here for the 6 weeks starter program pdf.

Some notes on how the program is structured:

-This program is based on the “R6” structure adapted by Body Structure. The labeling of each section may be unfamiliar to you. “Release” refers to foam rolling and soft tissue work, which are not introduced in this program, so you don’t have to worry about that. The “Reset” section is for exercises meant to improve your posture and pelvic positioning, and this is where the 3 Month Position goes. “Readiness” is our true warmup section, designed to get you mobile and get the blood flowing. “Resistance training” is your weightlifting and strength work. Finally, the “Resiliency” is your cardiovascular training. The final “R”, in case you were wondering, is Recovery.

-You’ll do the warmup (the Reset and Readiness) before every session, and once per day on non-workout days. It requires no equipment and minimal space, and doing it daily will drastically improve the way your joints feel by the end of the 6 weeks.

-Never hold your breath during the warmup mobility exercises. Instead, exhale and relax through the “sticky” parts of each stretch. Increasing flexibility requires one to ease into new ranges of motion, which requires breathing to be fluid and slow.

-The “sets” listed for each exercise refers to “hard” sets; that is, sets that feel like at least somewhat of a challenge. You may want to do a warmup set or two for unfamiliar exercises, or ones that involve any creaky joints, and those don’t count towards the listed sets.

-The resistance exercises are performed in pairs. You’ll see A1 and A2, which refer to the two exercises you’ll do together first. After you finish all the sets of A, you’ll move on to B1 and B2. Each workout ends with a single ab exercise, labeled C.

-You’ll notice that the reps increase each week for most exercises, then drop again on week four. This is by design. Find your “working” weight on week one, then stick with it for more reps on weeks two and three. Increase the weight on week four and start the process over.

-The cardio at the end (located in the “resiliency” box) should be performed at “just above comfortable” pace. You should walk a bit faster than your normal gait on day A, and pedal the bike or elliptical machine a bit harder than feels easy on day B. You don’t have to sprint, but it shouldn’t be a saunter either.

-Ideally, you should perform two additional cardio sessions on non-workout days, lasting for about 20 minutes. This can be done on a machine in the gym or simply a brisk walk outside.

Before you get started

So how do you know if the program worked? The best way is to do some pre-and post- testing to get some objective data on what kind of shape you’re in. Here are the three tests we recommend you do before you start the program, with the expectation that you’ll see an improvement on the re-test at the end.

-Plank test: get into a plank position, which is on your elbows with your legs straight and your shoulders, hips, and heels all in a straight line without your lower back sagging. Done correctly, you should feel your abdominal muscles and your shoulders holding you up. See how long you can hold this position without dropping or feeling pain. Most beginners start at somewhere around 30 seconds, but you should aim to double your time or last 2 minutes, whichever comes first, by the end of the program.

-Carry test: take a dumbbell or kettlebell, wrestle it up to underneath your chin in the “goblet” position. Stand tall, brace your abs, and get your elbows underneath the weight. Make sure you are not letting your back bend backwards. See how far you can walk without losing your position or feeling pain. Your goal by the end should be to carry a heavier weight or carry the same weight a longer distance.

- Sitting to Rising test: sit down on your rear end on the floor, then stand back up. Your goal is to use as few supports as possible in both directions. Your hands, knees, shins, your hand on your knee, etc. all count as a support. Every support you use takes a point away from 5 on the way down, and a point away from 5 on the way up, for a maximum total of 10. For example, if you get on the floor using one hand, and get up using a hand and a knee, that would be a score of 4 on the way down, and a score of 3 on the way up, for a total of 7.

Lastly, some keys to success with this –or any- program:

-Commit to finishing. Tell people you’re starting the program; better yet, get someone to do it with you.

-Do the warm-up every day. Run through it a few times, if you can.

-Do the exercises listed, in the sets and reps provided. If an exercise hurts or doesn’t feel right, don’t give up: shoot me an email at justin.gibson@bodystructure.com and I’ll help you find a better one.

-Don’t skip the cardio. It does wonders for your energy levels outside of the gym and you feel a difference in how you feel at the end of your workouts.

-Use challenging weights. You shouldn’t pick a weight you’re not sure you can do, but you shouldn’t use the lightest weights you can find for every exercise, either.

-Aim to improve every workout. It’s written into the program, but don’t be afraid to add reps or weight if you think something is too easy.

If you have any questions or want to team up with other people to help you on your fitness journey, leave us a comment, like our Facebook page, or stop in to our facility and speak with a Body Structure representative today.

Happy lifting!

5 BEHAVIORS THAT WILL HIJACK YOUR FITNESS GOALS

Mon, 08 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. An excellent proverb when considering the actions and behaviors needed to fulfill health and wellness goals you’ve set for yourselves. You probably have the best intentions. You want to feel better, perform better, look better, or live longer. Unfortunately, intentions are only realized if the correct actions and behaviors are consistently carried out.

You and I are going to ponder five subversive behaviors and/or actions that can easily thwart our health and wellness objectives.

1. Programming

Shooting in the dark and exercising haphazardly might briefly produce results, but without a plan, the results will be short-lived. Long-term results come by design. The design must revolve around your wellness goals, so first make sure you have goals, and they are realistic. Realistic goals provide an understanding of why you’re doing what you’re doing. Then, your daily actions and behaviors must reinforce your goals.

2. Eating

Have you ever thought, “Donuts every morning is okay because I work out for an hour every night?” Unfortunately, a consistent fitness program does not give you a green light to eat junk. You can’t outwork a poor diet.

If weight loss a goal, the calories that go in must be nutritiously dense so that your body gets the nutrients it needs to efficiently function while, at the same time, creating a caloric deficit. If muscle development is your goal, the calories that go in must be nutritiously dense so that your body gets the nutrients it needs to repair and strengthen your muscles that are damaged during your workout. Without a sound nutrition plan, you’re taking two steps forward and one step back, or worse, two steps back and one step forward.

3. Movement Quality

Thousands of years ago, Aristotle said, “Life requires movement.” He was correct, but he neglected to mention that a painless life requires moving correctly. All movements begin with the same basic framework. The framework includes proper alignments of the spine and other joints as they move together .

With any fitness program, the number one priority should be safety. To reduce the risk of injury, begin an exercise program by establishing a solid movement foundation before progressing to more complex exercises. Performing exercises with the proper techniques help avoid injury and gain the desired muscle adaptations.

4. Intensity

Exercise is supposed to be a challenge. How challenging the fitness program is largely dependents on your fitness level and your goals. Whatever your goal, progress will be exceptionally slow or nonexistent if you aren’t working hard enough.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and American Heart Association (AHA) recommend 150 minutes/week of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes/week of vigorous exercise to achieve health benefits.

So what is moderate intensity and how can you measure it? Your heart rate is a good indicator of intensity level. If you’re working between 65% and 75% of your maximum heart rate (220 – age), your heart is telling you that you’re working at a moderate intensity. You can use rate of perceived exertion which means that if you feel like you’re working hard, you probably are. Simply put, when you finish your fitness routine, you should be more fatigued than when you started.

5. Recovery

Let’s assume you train for five hours a week. Five hours of 168 hours available is only 3% of your week, so why do you walk into a workout dragging? Probably because of poor rest and/or recovery. Rest is defined as a combination of sleep and time spent not training. Recovery, on the other hand, involves techniques and actions taken to maximize your body’s repair. The elements of proper recovery include; sleep, hydration, nutrition, and stretching/myofascial release. Rest and recovery are important parts of any successful fitness program. They are also the least planned and underutilized ways to improve your performance.

You have good intentions. You’ve created goals for yourself. Now make a holistic, progressive plan that will help you from shooting yourself in the foot.

RESOLVE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR RESOLUTIONS

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

We all have the best intentions with our new year’s health and wellness resolutions. Next year we’re all going to be a better version of ourselves. So why do these resolutions end up stalling days or weeks later? I will be a bearer of good news. Not all resolutions need to end in frustration and/or failure. The trick is picking the right ones for the right reason.

First, you must take a good, hard look at where you stand on the health and wellness spectrum. Be honest with yourself. Ask, “What will be the consequences if my current lifestyle behaviors remain unchanged?” Knowing where you are can help determine both the route and the time it’ll take to get to your desired destination.

You have to know where you are before you know where you’re going, but you have to also know where you want to end up. If the consequences of your current lifestyle are less than satisfactory, what behaviors do you think you should change? Why? The reason behind the change needs to mean something to you. Many of us want to lose weight, but is it really the weight we want to lose or do we want to; be more attractive to our spouse, have less knee pain, or get down on the floor with our kids/grandkids more easily? In this example, weight loss is just a means to an end. Our initial “why” may just be the first layer of the onion. It is time to peel off a few more layers.

Change has its consequences too, even if they are positive changes. Do the benefits of adopting new behaviors outweigh the loss of giving up the old behaviors? For example, this year you’re planning to get into the gym at 5 am. You know that you’ll see more results from working out than from sleeping in, but what you know doesn’t always translate to what you want. Five ‘o’clock in the morning comes awfully early and may not work for you because, to you, the benefits of the workout do not outweigh the extra sleep, so three workouts a week turn into two and eventually fizzle to none at all. The advantage of the gain must surpass the hardship of the loss.

Change isn’t easy. Regularly remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. Make it your mantra. Visualize the end result. Celebrate small successes on the road to your destination. As long as the reward doesn’t undo the results, go for it. You earned it.

Just remember, you have to have the desire. Why do you want to make this change? You have to make the commitment. How important to you is making this behavioral change? You have to have the ability. How do you see this happening? And keep the destination in your sights. Henry Ford said, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal”, so don’t take your eyes off your goal.

HAPPY, HEALTHY HOLIDAYS: PART 3

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT

I hope you’ve enjoyed the past two recipes (if you haven’t yet, go check out the last few posts for some delicious, healthy recipes)! Today I am excited to share a delicious, chocolate-y dessert made with good-for-you ingredients- because you don’t have to give up dessert to have a happy, healthy holiday!

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bites

You will need:

1 cup almonds

½ cup shelled pumpkin seeds (sunflower seeds can be substituted)

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped

¼ cup cocoa powder

¾ tsp peppermint extract

2-4 tbsp milk

Optional: crushed candy canes & melted white chocolate

Here’s what you’ll do:

Put your almonds and shelled pumpkin seeds in a food processor and pulse until they are chopped well, then add the dates and pulse several times. Add the cocoa powder, peppermint extract and 2 tbsp of milk and process until all the ingredients are combined (add more milk if needed). The mixture should be a little wet and slightly sticky at this point. Form balls from the mixture and roll them in the crushed candy canes or drizzle with white chocolate. Enjoy immediately or store them in the fridge or freezer.

HAPPY, HEALTHY HOLIDAYS: PART 2

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome back! I hope you were able to test out and enjoy my cinnamon toasted almonds (and if not, go check out the last post for the recipe)! Today I’m going to share a recipe for heart-healthy pot roast made in your slow cooker. This is one of my favorites for so many reasons! It’s easy to prepare, cooks while you are out, includes yummy veggies and makes your home smell delicious.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

You will need:

1 ½ lb pot roast

2 potatoes, diced (swap for sweet potatoes for a new flavor!)

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

½ cup low-sodium beef broth

Steak seasoning

Here’s what you will do:

Season the beef with 1 tbsp of steak seasoning and put it on the bottom of your slow cooker, add your veggies and pour the broth on top. Sprinkle about 1 tsp of steak seasoning over the entire pot. Cook it on high for 3.5 hours or on low for 8 hours, and enjoy!

HAPPY, HEALTHY HOLIDAYS: PART 1

Tue, 19 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The holiday season is full of festive spirits, time with friends and family, and delicious food! Often I hear people talking about the holiday recipes they are excited to enjoy and, of course, lamenting how many calories are in each tasty dish. While the holidays are a wonderful time to indulge in some of our favorite foods, there are simple changes we can make to ensure our health goals aren’t put on hold! Over the next several days I am going to share three of my favorite holiday recipes with you so please try them out!

Have a happy, healthy (and delicious) holiday!

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

This one is delicious and SO easy- it is perfect for parties and, of course, snacking! All you need is almonds (2 cups), ground cinnamon (1 teaspoon), salt (½ teaspoon), and olive oil (1 tablespoon). First, preheat your oven to 250 ° . While it is heating up, mix the almonds, cinnamon, salt and olive oil in a large bowl and toss it to coat all the almonds. Then spread the nuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and put it in the oven for one hour. You can enjoy them immediately or store them in airtight container for later!

BEGINNING AN EXERCISE PROGRAM

Thu, 07 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The best way to get something done is to begin, but if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. There are three questions you must ask yourself in order to effectively begin an exercise program. Why am I doing this? When will I get started? How am I going to do it? Knowing why, when, and how to begin an exercise program is paramount for success.

Most people understand the importance of physical activity. The benefits are numerous, but to just name a few; energy is boosted, strength is increased, endurance is enhanced, risk of disease is reduced, sleep is improved, and the list goes on and on. The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Everyone benefits from exercise, regardless of age, sex, or physical ability. Exercising will not guarantee years added to your life, but it will add life to your years.

Your conditioning matters not. Your experience makes no difference. Everyone has to begin somewhere. Don’t let yourself be intimidated by the crowded gym. There are always non-intimidating alternatives. Take Body Structure for example. We pride ourselves on our non-intimidating atmosphere and experienced staff to create a welcoming, safe, and always helpful environment. So, to answer the question of when…the answer is…NOW!

Figuring out how to begin can be quite a roadblock for many. Through a variety of resources, you can find limitless options and opinions, but, often times, they are not the most appropriate plans for your needs. Please keep in mind, with any fitness program, the number one priority should be your safety. To reduce the risk of injury, begin an exercise program by establishing a solid movement foundation before progressing to more complex exercises. We’ve all heard the old adage, “one must learn to crawl before walking.” Don’t come out of the gate running. Crawl first. A fitness professional can be a valuable and reliable resource for determining the “how.”

Once your own “why”,” when”, and “how” have been determined, you must remain diligent and consistently stick to the plan. Between work deadlines, vacations, family obligations, etc. it is easy to fall off the exercise bandwagon. Set yourself up for success. Set smaller attainable goals that lead you in the right direction. Regularly achieving small goals keeps you on track and cumulatively leads to big change. Reward yourself for a job well done. You reached a goal you set for yourself, as long as the reward doesn’t undo the success, go for it and enjoy. You earned it.

Always remind yourself why you started. Stay persistent. And enjoy the journey on your way to achievement.

YOUR MOST COMPATIBLE PERSONAL TRAINER

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT

You’ve decided to hire a personal trainer to help guide you to a healthier place. I applaud your decision. Collaborating with the right personal trainer can improve your life. Your trainer can keep you motivated and accountable. He or she can maximize your exercise time, help get you to your desired results, and, most importantly, your personal trainer can dramatically reduce your risk of injury.

Now, the question is, “How do I determine the ‘right’ personal trainer?” I offer you some conditions to consider when faced with this dilemma.

Credentials : Any qualified personal trainer will have a certification in his/her area of expertise from an organization accredited by the NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies). The four most recognized and reputable personal training certifying associations are; National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and American Council on Exercise (ACE). Holding a certification from one of these organizations helps ensure that your potential trainer meets the standards of competence and professionalism.

Personality: Your potential trainer is someone with whom you’ll be spending significant time. He or she can have all sorts of credentials, but if you don’t get along, you won’t enjoy your experience. If you don’t enjoy your experience, you won’t stick with it. If you just don’t mesh with your trainer, don’t just suck it up. Find a new one. Even ask your trainer who they would recommend. If you’re not enjoying your time, your trainer probably isn’t either. Win. Win.
Philosophy : Each trainer has a method to the madness, but there are a few philosophies that should be universal among personal trainers. The reward of every exercise must outweigh the risk. Your trainer should lay a solid foundation of proper movement techniques before getting fancy with the exercise selection. Results should come by design, not by coincidence. You should start where you are, not where you want to be.
Specialty : Simply put, your potential trainer must be able to handle your needs. Do you want to run a marathon in 6 months? Are you finishing up with physical therapy after a hip replacement? Are you pregnant and want to continue exercising? All three conditions require a drastically different approach and your personal trainer must have the know-how to differentiate.
Cost : Before your hunt for a personal trainer begins, consider your budget. Credentials, experience, and specialties will affect the rate of personal trainers. Knowing what you’re willing to spend, in addition to what you want and need, can help narrow your search.
Evaluation Process : I always ask, “How do you determine where you’re going if you don’t know where you are?” Every qualified personal trainer will have a process for evaluating your current health status. The process must also include re-evaluations to ensure you’re making progress towards your goals and to make adjustments if you’re not.
Reputation: A personal trainer can toot his or her horn all day long, but a simple referral from a close friend, family member, or trusted doctor will always carry more weight. A referral is the best compliment a personal trainer can receive. A trainer is proud of the success of his/her clients, so he/she should be willing to share testimonials, success stories, and references with you.

INFLAMMATION AND NUTRITION

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Some form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia is believed to affect a little over 20% (22.7%) of US adults each year: nearly 1 in 5. At its core, arthritis is painful inflammation and stiffness of one or more joint(s) of the body, which can often limit one’s daily activity; and in some cases, debilitate to the point of functional disability. Due to the nature of the illness, it is important to take proactive steps towards managing or preventing occurrences of inflammation by reducing pro-inflammatory triggers while increasing anti-inflammatory ones.

Pain and swelling in individuals who experience arthritis, and its many forms, may be attributed to regular consumption of pro-inflammatory foods throughout the day and minimal consumption of anti-inflammatory foods, or at least an inadequate amount to counter the pro-inflammatory effects on the body. Nutritionally, animal products like eggs, dairy, and meat may cause an uptick in inflammation within hours of consumption. Should pro-inflammatory foods be consumed at regular intervals throughout the day, the body stays in a prolonged state of inflammation. Thus, regular, daily consumption of animal products may be attributed to chronic inflammation.

Conversely, whole, plant foods tend to be anti-inflammatory in nature; where consuming a variety of predominately plant foods, with high levels of anti-oxidants, can actually down regulate markers of inflammation. The switch to fruits, vegetables, and water and the subsequent removal of animal products from the diet is believed to be reason enough why individuals who participate in detox or fasting protocols for several days report an absence of swelling and pain in their joints. Research is starting to indicate that eating a diet primarily composed of whole, plant foods may be as anti-inflammatory as taking an aspirin a day (without the side effects associated with daily aspirin intake) and as good as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

For more information on how nutrition effects inflammation and swelling, advice on ways to incorporate more whole, plant foods and less pro-inflammatory foods, or help with other nutrition and health concerns, please contact Body Structure Medical Fitness at (859) 268-8190 and ask to setup an appointment with our dietitian.

THE TRUTH ABOUT OLDER ADULTS AND FITNESS

Mon, 02 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Jules Renard once said, “It’s not how old you are, it’s how you are old”. In a society that includes both powerlifting grandmothers and 35-year-olds who take the elevator up one flight of stairs, becoming “old” seems less and less a factor of birth date and more one of lifestyle. An abundance of evidence links an increase in physical activity with an increase in quality of life in everyone old enough to be either out of diapers or back into them, and yet the group that needs exercise the most –those of us over 65- are the least likely to get it.

While any exercise is better than no exercise, some myths surrounding fitness and weight training for older adults may be in need of busting in order for the baby boomers in your life to get the most out of their fitness program.

Myth: Older adults should stick to light weights when strength training.

There is reputable evidence to support the notion that light weights performed for many repetitions can be as effective as heavy weights for building muscle. So, it stands to reason that the elderly should stick with light weights to minimize the risk of injury while obtaining all the benefits of strength training, right?

Well, not exactly. While building muscle mass is certainly important, building bone mass is equally so. And according to this column penned by Rory Heath of strengthandconditioningresearch.com, light and moderate weights might not have much positive impact on building bone density, at least past a very low baseline. The same goes for low-intensity, low impact activities such as walking and cycling, the two staple recommendations for exercise for older adults. While these modalities certianly have their benefits, building bone mineral density and staving off osteoporosis may not be one of them.

Heavy weights, on the other hand, do build bone. Specifically, heavy weights and axial loading offer the most benefits. Rory writes that “just 12 weeks of strength training with squats improved strength by 154% while also increasing lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density by 2.9% and 4.9%, respectively (Mosti et al. 2013)” The femoral neck is a common site of hip fractures in older adults, and strengthening the bone itself may reduce the likelihood of an injury that could put an end to them living unassisted. He also states that only heavy weights resulted in increases in bone density. It seems that bone has a higher minimum effective strain for building more tissue than does muscle, and heavy weights should be intelligently incorporated into one’s exercise regime for that reason.

Myth: Power training is for athletes, and is too dangerous for older adults.

“Power training” is all about producing a lot of force as quickly as possible. It’s extremely beneficial for athletes of all sports, who rarely need to do anything slowly. Often, it involves throwing heavy medicine balls against a wall until one of them (the ball or the wall) breaks, or loading up a ton of weight on a barbell and launching it overhead, before letting it fall to the floor with a loud crash.

That’s all well and good for a kid trying to make it into the big leagues, but there’s no sense in a grandmother training for power, right?

Wrong, turns out. Power is important not only for knocking over defensive linemen, but also for going up stairs or catching a rail after an unexpected trip.

According to this study in the Journal of Gerontology, older adults with below average strength were subjected to either a normal strength training protocol, which consisted of a standard machine circuit, or a power training circuit, which started out like the strength training group but then shifted focus on reducing the weights and moving them faster…power training, in other words. After 6 months, both groups fared better than a sedentary control group on a test of functional household activities, but the power training group performed far better. Power, it seems, is more important than just strength when it comes to older adults looking to live independently.

What would power training for an older person look like? Power training doesn’t necessarily have to be high impact; things like medicine ball throws and kettle bells swings, when performed correctly, don’t put unnecessary stress on the joints and still elicit the desired power training effect. Another, perhaps simpler option, is just perform standard weight training exercises and machines at a higher speed, and with a lower weight if needed.

Myth: Protein shakes are for young bodybuilders.

This myth could be further expanded into: you don’t really need to pay attention to your protein intake unless you’re trying to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many people want to build muscle for aesthetic reasons, but muscle mass is an important part of a healthy body composition and can help maintain a favorable metabolism as the years come and go. And while even bodybuilders often don’t need to consume 10 scoops of expensive protein powder a day (like the website they bought it from told them they do), there is a major benefit to consuming a source of protein and carbs after a workout. A combination of resistance training, protein ingestion, and insulin uptake (brought about by carbohydrate consumption) bring about an elevated level of protein synthesis that is conducive to building muscle.

According to this article discussing the affects of aging on protein synthesis , older adults actually need more protein after a workout to most effectively build muscle than does that young guy at your gym who cut off the sleeves to all his shirts. Young’uns can get away with as little as 5 to 10 grams of protein following resistance training to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, but studies suggest that older athletes and weight-trainers need 25 to 30 grams of a high quality protein rich in leucine to get the same effect.

You can see a chart of foods high in leucine here , or you can do a bit of research to find a protein powder with adequate amounts of the stuff to drink on the drive home. Either way, pair it with a source of carbohydrate (this is a great time of day to have some fruit or even a “cheat” snack of sugar) and consume it within about an hour of finishing your workout.

Myth: Older adults should stay off the floor to be safe.

Some people, especially people past retirement age, have orthopedic or balance issues that make getting up and down off the floor a challenge. Especially if alone, for some people, the possibility of not being able to get up is simply too great of a risk to warrant getting down on the floor to exercise.

But if you can get on the floor and back up again, you should hold onto that skill as long as possible.

A much-publicized study of older adults by Brazilian physician Claudio Gil Araujo demonstrated a clear and linear relationship between difficulty getting off the floor and all-cause mortality. Specifically, people who required two hands, two knees, and/or propping hands on knees to get off the ground were far more likely to die over the course of the study than people who only needed one hand. This was true across age (the participants were between 51 and 80), sex, and body mass index. This is most likely because the ability to easily rise off the floor is associated with healthy muscle strength and flexibility.

If this is a challenge for you, regardless of age, it is a skill worth practicing. There is no real prescription or hard technique here; find a way to sit down on the floor and get back up with as little assistance as possible. Having a family member, or even better, a qualified fitness professional, on hand for assistance may be necessary for some, but this is a potentially live-saving skill that is extremely worth your time.

If you want to score your performance, here’s how: going from standing up to sitting on your rear end on the floor is worth 5 points, and standing back up again is worth 5 points, for a total of ten. Any support used during either phase is a deduction of 1 point, and a stumble or “shaky” transition is a deduction of half a point. Supports include using a hand on the ground, a knee or shin on the ground, or a hand on your leg. The goal is to get a total score of at least 8 out of 10, which would be using one hand to get down on the floor, and one hand to get back up.

Here’s what a perfect score would look like:

https://youtu.be/14_nSpkTy7g

And here is a few examples of a “passing” score of 8 out of 10:

https://youtu.be/2ktt3y5apHM

-------------------------------

Don’t let what you think you cannot do get in the way of what you really can do. Proper exercise prescription and technique allows performance of daily living with less effort and extends functional independence by living the latter years in self-sufficiency. Simply put, moving better equals living better regardless of age.

INDIVIDUALIZED NUTRITION

Thu, 31 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT

SAY NO TO COOKIE CUTTER DIETS!

Say No To Cookie Cutter Diets!

With new fad diets, weight loss programs, diet templates, and guarantees of losing 50+ pounds it is easy to constantly be attracted to the new and shiny promises put out there by so called fitness/nutrition experts. It is important to remember that the majority of these “experts” are strictly out for your money and not much else. They are not concerned with walking through the process with you. A cookie cutter template will be placed in your hands and the rest is up to you.

This is where the problem lies; your ideal nutrition plan should be individualized and the ability to be tweaked here and there when life throws curve balls. Nutrition should support your lifestyle and goals. Lose your 50+ pounds, run a 5k this year, continue to play with your grandchildren for years to come… but do it with a professional by your side fine-tuning and helping you achieve a healthier life. Your journey to an improved you should have a support staff able to keep you on track, even after some derailments.

COOKIE CUTTERS WORK SHORT-TERM, BUILD SOMETHING SUSTAINABLE.

Begin your sustainable lifestyle created through nutrition! Contact me at Michael.Horner@bodystructure.com to set up a nutrition modification session now.

WHAT SHOULD I EAT??

Thu, 17 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT

NUTRITIONAL AWARENESS

“What should I eat?”

This is the number one question dietitians get on a daily basis. It is such a simple question but the weight it carries may be heavier than any other. The dietitian must take into account activity level, current weight status and goal weight status, past diets, health history, level of motivation, and about ten other important indicators to just get started.

So how do I answer? I want to first establish a baseline—nothing more, nothing less. This is an overlooked aspect of creating a healthy lifestyle change through nutrition. It’s easy to get caught up on the shiny new fad diets but nutrition should create a sustainable lifestyle! After baseline measurements are taken we’ll create an attack plan for changes in eating habits and execute, evaluate, and repeat! Making small adjustments leads to long-term results . Understand what you’re eating and why you’re eating it. Nutritional awareness is a powerful tool and will iron out many of your dietary issues present.

MAKING SMALL ADJUSTMENTS LEADS TO LONG-TERM RESULTS.

To establish baseline and begin on your sustainable lifestyle created through nutrition… contact me at Michael.Horner@bodystructure.com to set up a nutrition modification session.

FITNESS FOR ADULTS WITH NO TIME

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Something happens after high school to most of us. Slowly, more and more of the things mom and dad used to do for us are now heaped on our shoulders; food doesn’t make itself anymore, the electricity will go off if you don’t answer those red envelopes every once in a while, and you find out really quick that your boss isn’t as eager to keep you in the building as your teachers were. In short, we get responsibilities, and they take up time in days that seem to get shorter and shorter.

In addition to keeping up with appointments and remembering to pick up the kids from baseball practice, at some point we should all find time to work out, spending 2 hours a day, 6 days a week at the gym may be a realistic option for some people, but most grown-ups count themselves lucky to find a half hour here and there. So how is one supposed to get an effective workout in such a short time frame? Enter EMOM training.

What is EMOM?

EMOM stand for Every Minute On the Minute, and it is a fantastic addition to your fitness repertoire, useful for nearly every fitness level and goal out there. The setup is extremely simple: at the top of every minute, do an exercise for a certain number of reps, and then rest for the rest of the minute. Repeat for as long as you have time. Training like this takes the guesswork out of rest periods, gives you an incentive to work hard (more rest when you finish sooner) and lets you know exactly how long your workout will take while keeping the workload steady. You can work for 5 minutes or 20, depending on how much time you have in the gym, and still expect a decent workout.

This can work with a fancy tabata timer like this one (set for 60 seconds of work, 0 seconds of rest) or simply by watching the second hand on a clock, if your gym is old-fashioned enough to have one.

The best part is, EMOM works for strength training, cardio, fat loss, and flexibility equally well. Here’s how to structure your new favorite workout mode.

Strength Training

When you’re going for time efficiency and fitness efficacy, few options can beat EMOM for strength training. It’s simply one of the best ways to safely get in a lot of quality reps with a heavy weight. At the top of every minute, do somewhere between 2 and 5 reps of a big, basic compound exercise. The secret, here, is never to approach fatigue or burn during your sets; leave one or two good reps in the tank every set. Additionally, each set shouldn’t take longer than 10 or so seconds to complete, leaving you plenty of time to rest.

The following exercises work very well

Barbell Front Squat
Barbell Back Squat
Goblet Squat
Deadlift or Rack Pull
Trap Bar Deadlift
Chin Up
Barbell Bench Press (any angle)
Barbell Overhead Press

Do 2-5 reps with a heavy weight every time the timer goes off. Again, never push to failure, and keep pristine form. 6 sets (that is to say, 6 minutes) is a good number to start with, though you can certainly go higher.

Alternatively, for a bit more variety, you can alternate between 2 of these exercises (one upper body and one lower body works best) for 5 rounds apiece.

Cardio

While strength training the EMOM way can certainly get your heart rate up, the method can be further tuned specifically to target the old ticker. Here, the reps are higher, the weights much lower, and ideally you should be working as long or longer than you are resting

Body weight exercises work well here, as do low-weight versions of big compound weighted exercises. To avoid burning out the muscles before your heart gets its due, it’s best to pick 2 exercises and alternate between them, with the best options being one upper body and one lower body exercise. Some ideas are listed below; just pick one from column A and one from Column B.

A	B
Pushup	Squats or jump squats
Medicine ball slam	Split squats or jumping split squats
Battle ropes	Kettlebell swings
Pullups or inverted rows	Step ups
Dumbbell clean and press	Lateral shuffle between cones

10 minutes (5 rounds per exercise) is probably as short as you should go here, but that’s still way more efficient than pounding away on the treadmill for 30 minutes. You could also simply add more rounds, or even add a third exercise and fill up an entire lunch break without ever losing track of time.

Mobility and Flexibility

Right around the time you start having more responsibilities than time, you also start noticing some pain and stiffness that weren’t there before. Whether correlative or causative, you can still get in a good mobility routine in a time crunch with the EMOM method, and you don’t need any equipment (other than maybe a mat or knee pad) and minimal space to get it done.

Here’s “Justin’s Feel-Good Mobility” circuit, done in the same EMOM fashion as the strength and cardio sections above, except now you’ll be working for the duration of the rounds. Set the timer for 10 one-minute rounds, and prepare to feel better.

1.Crocodile breathing –lay on your belly, put your forehead on your stacked hands, and take big, slow belly breaths. You should feel your stomach push into the ground with each inhale. 3 seconds in, 3 seconds out should net you about 10 breaths.
Dead bugs – exhale fully on every rep, not letting your back arch off the floor. You don’t get points for doing as many reps as possible, so take it slow.
Spidermans – alternate reps, taking your time to sink down to the bottom of each one.
Pigeons – again, alternate and take your time.
Adductor rock-back – You may need a pad for you knee for this one: get on all fours, kick one leg straight out to the side. Keeping your spine straight and not rounded, rock your hips back until you feel a stretch. The inside of the leg out to the side is where you want to feel the stretch. You’ll need to keep an eye on the timer and switch halfway through this one.
Side lying windmills, left side – this one feels so good, you’ll want to spend a minute on both sides. That, and, it’s a bit cumbersome to get into. You can keep you knee on a foam roller or med ball like in the video, or you can simply stack your knees on top of one another in front of you. Rotate through the upper back, feeling a stretch in the chest and shoulder. As you finish the rotation, exhale fully; you’ll be amazed at how much further you can sink into the stretch.
Side lying windmills, right side
Straight leg lower – this one’s a twofer: stretch your hamstrings and work your core at the same time. The hard part here is keeping the top leg straight at the ceiling –or as close as you can get it- as you lower the other almost to the ground. Alternate reps and go slow.
Fire hydrants – this one is about controlled mobility rather than a stretch, so go slow and aim for big circles. Don’t let you hips tilt away from the side you’re working, and switch halfway through.
If you sit at a desk all day and have a rounded posture, do this one:

Up Dog – What’s “up dog”? Nothing much, what’s up with you? See, you learn to appreciate these jokes around the same time you start needing this back-releasing exercise. Lay on your belly, relax everything below your shoulder blades, and push your shoulders off the ground until your arms are straight. If this is uncomfortable, come down to your elbows. Relax everything below the shoulders again for good measure. Hang out here for the full minute, and let your spine settle out of flexion.

10b. If you have a more extended posture, or you’re not yet to the point in your life where you appreciate dad jokes, this one might work better for you:

Child’s Pose – Yes, the one from yoga. Get on all fours, pointing your toes back behind you, and rock your hips back onto your feet. It’s okay if your spine rounds, just don’t force yourself into position. Let your arms extend in front of you or place them at your sides, whichever feels better to you.

And there you have it: one method, three applications, and hopefully a few new ideas. Treat your adulthood and all the responsibilities it brings like the privilege it is, and don’t fret over not being able to work out for 2 hours a day anymore.